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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Shaun Walker in Kyiv and Andrew Roth

FOUND: I m never going back the high profile russian defectors rejecting war | Mind Blowing Facts

Former Gazprombank vice president, Igor Volobuev, who fled Russia into Ukraine when the war began, stans in a square in Kyiv
The former Gazprombank vice-president Igor Volobuyev, who fled Russia for Ukraine when the war began, stands in a square in Kyiv. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Igor Volobuyev spent two decades working in the heart of the Russian business establishment, first for Gazprom and then for its affiliate Gazprombank, where until February this year he was vice-president.

Then Vladimir Putin launched his war on Ukraine in late February, and Volobuyev decided he could no longer stand living in Russia. He packed a small rucksack of possessions and a stack of cash, and flew out of the country on 2 March, pretending he was going on holiday.

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