A guard at one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's residences in occupied Crimea has fled to Ecuador, calling the Kremlin leader a war criminal.

A guard at one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residences in occupied Crimea has fled to Ecuador, calling the Kremlin leader a war criminal.

Vitaly Brizhaty, who worked on the Ukrainian peninsula for the Federal Protection Service (FSO), the Kremlin’s bodyguard agency, told Dozhd TV in an interview that he opposed the war in Ukraine.

Brizhaty is the second member of the FSO to flee and publicly criticize the president over the invasion of Ukraine.

Brizhaty worked at Olivye, one of Putin’s two palaces in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. RFE/RL’s Crimea.Realities revealed the massive palace in Olivye in a 2021 report.