He worked in the Moscow police for almost 20 years. Then he talked about the war in Ukraine.

It was the third week of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Sergei Klokov, a driver at Moscow’s police headquarters, was increasingly unsettled by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war and the way it presented itself in the country’s state media. Call a former colleague.

“We think we are fighting fascism, but there is no fascism there. No, “said his friend, Mr. Klokov, a Russian-Ukrainian. Concerned that Russian soldiers and Ukrainian civilians were dying for no reason, he begged, “Pass on the information to the people.”