Vitaliy Khripun after his request for asylum in Georgia
December 24, 2009
Twenty-five-year-old Vitaly Khripun, a border guard with the Russian Federal Security Service in South Ossetia, defected from his post on December 21 and has asked for political asylum in Georgia. Khripun was serving in the Java district along the administrative border that has separated South Ossetia from Georgia proper since last year's five-day war between Russia and Georgia. In his first interview since his defection, Khripun says he was motivated to act by the culture of corruption and cruelty he witnessed in South Ossetia. He spoke to Olesya Vartanyan of Echo of the Caucasus, RFE/RL's Russian-language programming for Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The interview took place in Tbilisi on December 22.
RFE/RL: Where are you from originally?
Vitaly Khripun: I was born in Ukraine in 1984. Since 1986, I've lived in Russia. Well, it was all the Soviet Union back then. In Murmansk.
RFE/RL: How long have you been in the military?
Khripun: I finished my conscription in 2004. After that, I went to sea, and then I applied to the Federal Security Service.
RFE/RL: When did you become an employee of the FSB?
Khripun: On May 27, 2008.
RFE/RL: Where did you serve?
Khripun: In Murmansk, in the coast guard of the FSB. And then I was sent to Ossetia. I assumed duty there on December 9, 2009.
RFE/RL: Was your military service in Murmansk different from what you've experienced since in South Ossetia?
RFE/RL: Where are you from originally?
Vitaly Khripun: I was born in Ukraine in 1984. Since 1986, I've lived in Russia. Well, it was all the Soviet Union back then. In Murmansk.
RFE/RL: How long have you been in the military?
Khripun: I finished my conscription in 2004. After that, I went to sea, and then I applied to the Federal Security Service.
RFE/RL: When did you become an employee of the FSB?
Khripun: On May 27, 2008.
RFE/RL: Where did you serve?
Khripun: In Murmansk, in the coast guard of the FSB. And then I was sent to Ossetia. I assumed duty there on December 9, 2009.
RFE/RL: Was your military service in Murmansk different from what you've experienced since in South Ossetia?
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