Putin Adviser Chubais Quits Over Ukraine War, Leaves Russia

Russian climate messenger Anatoly Chubais has resigned and left the country, citing his opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, according to two people who were familiar with the situation, became the highest official to rest with the Kremlin on the invasion.

 

Chubais, 66, was one of the few economic reformers of the 1990s remaining in the Putin government and had maintained close relations with Western officials. Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.

 

Known as the Privatization Architect of the 1990s Russia, Chubais gave Putin his first Kremlin work in the mid-1990s and initially welcomed the increase at the end of the decade. Under Putin, Chubais took the top work in a large state company until the president named him a messenger for sustainable development last year.

 

Chubais announced his resignation in a letter to colleagues and friends on Tuesday, according to the people who saw it. Last week, he signaled a dark view, said in a post on Facebook at the commemoration of Yegor Gaidar’s death that economic reformer “understood a better strategic risk than I did and I was wrong.”

 

In his 2006 book, “the death of the Empire,” Gaidar warned the temptation of the nostalgic empire for the Soviet Union which he saw grow under Putin. “It is not difficult to convince the public that a country that collapses suddenly can be quickly rebuilt,” he wrote. “That’s illusion, which is dangerous.”

 

Since the war, the government has increased pressure on domestic critics invasion. Putin warned on March 16 that he would clean Russia from “garbage and traitors” he accused working quickly for A.S. And his allies. Facing economic destruction, Russian leaders accused the west want to destroy Russia.

 

“Everyone, and especially Russians, will always be able to tell patriots from garbage and traitors and spit them out like a middle person who accidentally flew into their mouths,” Putin said. “I am sure that this natural self-cleaning and need will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and readiness to meet any challenges.”

Last week, Arkady Dvorkovich, who was a senior economic advisor for Dmitry Medvedev during his presidency and deputy prime minister until 2018, fell as the head of the state-backed Skolkovo technology after condemning the invasion. Dvorkovich, who is also the President of the International Chess Federation, is one of only a few senior officials to speak against the war.