‘He’s a war criminal’: Elite Putin security officer defects

In this image from video provided by the Dossier Center, a London-based investigative group funded by Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Gleb Karakulov speaks during an interview in Turkey in December 2022. Karakulov, who was responsible for setting up secure communications for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said moral opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his fear of dying there drove him to speak out, despite the risks to himself and his family. He said he hoped to inspire other Russians to speak out also. “Our President has become a war criminal,” he said. “It is time to end this war and stop being silent.” (Dossier Center via AP) In this image from video provided by the Dossier Center, a London-based investigative group funded by Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Gleb Karakulov speaks during an interview in Turkey in December 2022. Karakulov, who was responsible for setting up secure communications for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said moral opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his fear of dying there drove him to speak out, despite the risks to himself and his family. He said he hoped to inspire other Russians to speak out also. “Our President has become a war criminal,” he said. “It is time to end this war and stop being silent.” (Dossier Center via AP)

By ERIKA KINETZ / Associated Press April 4, 2023 14 min read

LONDON (AP) — On Oct. 14, a Russian engineer named Gleb Karakulov boarded a flight from Kazakhstan to Turkey with his wife and daughter. He switched off his phone to shut out the crescendo of urgent, enraged messages, said goodbye to his life in Russia and tried to calm his fast-beating heart.

But this was no ordinary Russian defector. Karakulov was an officer in President Vladimir Putin’s secretive elite personal security service — one of the few Russians to flee and go public who have rank, as well as knowledge of intimate details of Putin’s life and potentially classified information.

Karakulov, who was responsible for secure communications, said moral opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his fear of dying there drove him to speak out, despite the risks to himself and his family. He said he hoped to inspire other Russians to speak out also.

“Our president has become a war criminal,” he said. “It is time to end this war and stop being silent.”