A Russian business executive who defected just days into the Ukraine war says he wants to see Vladimir Putin hanged.
Igor Volobuyev spent more than 20 years at state-owned gas giant Gazprom, where he rose to a position of prominence as vice-president of the company-owned bank.
But he knew he couldn't support the invasion as he watched horrific shelling videos filmed by his childhood friends in Ukraine, and fled from the country in late February.
Last week he finally resurfaced in Kyiv, and has now spoken publicly about his decision to defect.
"The life I had before the war no longer exists, and it doesn't really bother me," he told the Telegraph.
Born in Okhtyrka, Ukraine, Volobuyev received Russian citizenship after the fall of the Soviet Union and assimilated quickly. He gladly voted for Putin in 2012, but the annexation of Crimea opened his eyes to the tyrant's attitudes to his home country.
"For eight years I was in this internal turmoil: I didn't just work in Russia, but I worked for Gazprom. I worked for the Russian state," he explained.
Family obligations prevented him from leaving Russia, but when tank began rolling into Ukraine on February 24 he knew he had to act and "chose my motherland".
After being dissuaded from trying to reach Okhtyrka on foot, he managed to enter the country through other means he won't disclose. He has no citizenship, his bank account has been cleared out as "payback" for his betrayal and his attempts to join the voluntary army in Kyiv were rebuffed.
Volobuyev claims he's far from the only Russian tycoon unhappy with the Kremlin's actions, saying: "I know people whose views are very different from what they say publicly on their job."
Feeling the need to "repent" for his decades of work for the Russian state, he now wants to persuade foreign investors to help rebuild his hometown which has been decimated by shelling.
There's one other thing he desires: capital punishment for the Russian president.
"Putin has to be put on trial and hanged," he said.
"But only in accordance with the law."
In a sickening parallel, Russian TV pundits have advocated for public hangings in Ukraine.
In March Dmitry Evstafiev said on Russia-1 that he supported hanging by court-martial because he believes some Ukrainians pose a danger to Russians.
"I would restore the death penalty by hanging through a military tribunal," he said.
"There are people in Ukraine who threaten Russian citizens and create a threat for us. In my view, this is of utmost importance."
