Former Minister of Agriculture and Consumer Market of the Republic of Komi Denis Sharonov, after receiving a summons in October 2022, left for the United States and requested political asylum there. This was reported on Tuesday, August 15, by the RTVI news site, whose journalists identified the former politician in a video posted on the New Americans YouTube channel and spoke with Sharonov.
In the video titled “He was a minister in Russia, he became a truck driver in the USA,” the name of the ex-minister was not named, but journalists, using facial recognition services, found out that the person in the video was Sharonov. The former official later confirmed to RTVI that he was indeed in the video.
Sharonov claims that he was twice prosecuted in Russia, but both times he was acquitted by the court and rehabilitated. According to him, he was dismissed from the post of Minister of Agriculture of the Komi Republic in January 2022 due to a protracted conflict with the head of the region Vladimir Uiba. Sharonov also links the agenda he received in the fall with his previous work.
Emigration to the USA and work as a truck driver
“I began to receive signals that it was not safe for me to stay in Russia, and when in October 2022 they came from the military registration and enlistment office to hand over a summons to my registration address, there was nothing left for me to do. Although, in principle, I was not that suitable for my age. “I realized that this was a signal from the republic where I worked. And this is just a way to get rid of objectionable people. I was lucky in the previous two persecutions, but this time I realized that I could not fight back. I had no choice but to leave the country “, he said.
Now the former minister works in the US as a truck driver and is seeking political asylum . “It is clear that the job that I am doing now – a trucker on a box truck, is not an eternal job. But the work has to start somewhere, and the profession of a trucker in the United States is one of the most common,” Sharonov shared, adding that the future will depend on how the process of its legalization will proceed.
Lisa Lambrecht
DW
