CNN High-ranking Russians on the run Helped by this man

Paris - Vladimir Osechkin recounts how he was carrying plates of spaghetti for his kids around the dinner table when he noticed a red laser . dancing on the wall. He was aware of what was going to happen.

He hurriedly switched off the lights, his wife helped him pull the kids to the floor, and they all left the room for another area of the apartment. A short while later, the hitman opened fire on the approaching police officers, believing one of them to be a Russian dissident.

Osechkin's activities are discussed on the CNN website. I have contributed significantly to the defense of human rights over the past ten years.

Osechkin told CNN in an interview from France, where he has been living under constant police protection since applying for asylum there in 2015. "But at this point I realized that my mission to help others brings great risk to my family," he said. High-ranking Russians are defecting to the West in increasing numbers due to their displeasure with Russia's conflict in Ukraine, so there is now cause for optimism.

Former generals and agents of the secret service are two examples. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has frequently shown that he is determined to eliminate the Kremlin's adversaries, even those who are located outside of Russia.

Osechkin is wanted and has an arrest warrant out for him from Russia that was issued in his absence. He was given asylum in France, but locating safety is much more challenging.

Knowing the inner workings of the Russian state is part of his job as an investigative journalist and activist against corruption, which is somewhat helpful. Osechkin testified that he received warnings about his impending murder twice, both times from sources other than the actual perpetrator.

He established the human rights group Gulagu . net in 2011, which has since conducted a number of investigations into Russian institutions it has charged with various offenses and is fighting corruption and torture in Russia. The work of Gulag . net, however, assumed a global scope once Russian tanks crossed the Ukrainian border in February of last year.

One investigation into the alleged rape of male prisoners in Russian prisons led a number of federal security service (FSB) agents to come forward as whistleblowers. Then, a website called Gulag Dot Net published a number of letters that appeared to be written by FSB agents and expressed disapproval of Russia's policies and the conflict in Ukraine.

Several Russian officials have been compelled to leave their country as a result of Putin's alleged special military operation. Only those who escaped the "partial mobilization" in September have more people in their numbers.

Nowadays, someone asks for our assistance every day, according to Osechkin. Many of them, he continues, are just regular soldiers, but there are also some bigger fish among them, such as a former minister or an army general.

Both the mercenary from Wagner's group and the former FSB officer who approached Osechkin had their identities confirmed by CNN. There is an agreement to provide sensitive information about Russia's internal operations as part of the journey from Russia through Osechkin's network.

Osekin frequently collaborates with European informants, with whom some of this information ends up in their possession. Although Osechkin admits that some of the information is only tangentially relevant to the human rights organization, Western intelligence agencies are more concerned with other matters.

An evaluation of some of the documents Osechkin received was requested by CNN from Michel Yakovleff, a former French general and NATO deputy commander. These are fragments of a more complicated body of knowledge.

Even though they are only marginally interesting in and of themselves, they contribute to the formation of a larger picture. And that's in the intelligence services' best interests," claimed Yakovleff, who also claimed that the documents the defectors have are not their only form of currency.

We are not interested in this specific document; rather, what matters are your position within the hierarchy, your level of trustworthiness, your relationships with confidantes, your level of access to information, and the nature of that information. Yakovleff continues, "Frequently, you know things that you don't even realize you know.

Marija Dmitrievova, 32, one of the defectors, allegedly stole information from the FSB and fled with it. She allegedly spent a month working as a doctor for the FSB while also secretly recording patient interviews in order to gather information before defecting. Patients' symptoms allegedly occasionally revealed national security secrets.

For instance, she discussed a GRU military intelligence agent who had malaria after contracting it while on an unnamed mission in Africa or about soldiers discussing the conditions in the army during her testimony. Dmitrievova has submitted an asylum request to France's southern region.

She left behind a family and a friend who works for the Russian intelligence services in that country. According to her, she is unsure if the details given will be sufficient to grant her long-term asylum in France.

Osechkin continued by saying he is concerned about Moscow's attempts to sabotage his work and infiltrate his organization. Therefore, his coworkers make sure that everyone they assist is who they say they are.

"Defection requires compelling justifications. You can't claim that I just now understood that democracy is preferable to tyranny, which is why I'm here.

The question, "Why is this person defecting now?," will be one of the first that the intelligence agencies will ask, according to Yakovleff. Former FSB officer Emran Navruzbekov claimed that many of his coworkers had begun looking for ways out of Russia because they were so pessimistic about their chances in Ukraine.

Dmitrievova was compelled to leave as a result of the Ukrainian war. She aspires for her actions to serve as an example for other system insiders who want to overthrow Putin's government.

"Except for the All-Powerful, I have no fears. For me, it is crucial that my conduct serves as an example for both my fellow citizens and my coworkers in the security forces, said Dmitriyeva.

According to Osechkin, many Russians who defected had Ukrainian ancestry or connections to Ukraine, which contributed to the cases. After the Russian invasion of the neighboring country, they joined Russian journalists and human rights advocates as a result of them.

"This war has no basis in reality. According to Osechkin, the conflict is the result of a single man's desire to maintain his dominance over Russia and to have it recorded in world history and school textbooks.

Human rights, intelligence, diplomacy, France, and Russia were mentioned by Dmitrievova. According to Osechkin, many Russians who defected had Ukrainian ancestry or connections to Ukraine, which contributed to the cases.

After the Russian invasion of the neighboring country, they joined Russian journalists and human rights advocates as a result of them. "This war has no basis in reality.

According to Osechkin, the conflict is the result of a single man's desire to maintain his dominance over Russia and to have it recorded in world history and school textbooks. Human rights, intelligence, diplomacy, France, and Russia were mentioned by Dmitrievova.

According to Osechkin, a large number of Russians defected because of their Ukrainian heritage or connections. After the Russian invasion of the neighboring country, they joined Russian journalists and human rights advocates as a result of them.

"This war has no basis in reality. According to Osechkin, the conflict is the result of a single man's desire to maintain his dominance over Russia and to have it recorded in world history and school textbooks.

Human rights, intelligence, and diplomacy between France and Russia.

According to Osechkin, the conflict is the result of a single man's desire to maintain his dominance over Russia and to have it recorded in world history and school textbooks.