Anatoly Chubais Quits, Leaves Russia: A longtime adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly resigned from his government position and left the country. It is the highest-ranking defection following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine yet and indicates that the president’s grip over his country and government might not be as tight as he thought.
Anatoly Chubais’ resignation was motivated mostly by his opposition to the war in Ukraine, according to two unnamed sources who spoke to Bloomberg News.
Chubais has not publicly commented on his resignation or where he intends to go, but photographs published by Turkish newspaper Kommersant show a man who appears to resemble Chubais withdrawing cash from an ATM in Istanbul last week.
The former Putin ally’s resignation was confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“Yes, Chubais has resigned voluntarily,” he said during a recent press briefing. “And it is up to him whether to leave or not.”
Who Is Anatoly Chubais, and Why Does His Resignation Matter?
Chubais may not have been particularly influential or powerful during his time in government, but his resignation is significant as it publicly undermines the strength of the Russian president. It means that Putin must not only convince his own people that the war in Ukraine is going to plan – even as some experts say his army is only days away from running out of food, water, and ammo – but he will also need to reassure the Russian people that his government is united.
Putin appointed Chubais as his special representative for sustainable development and communications with international organizations in December 2020. A presidential decree said that Chubais will assist the Kremlin with “achieving goals of sustainable development.”
“This time the future assignment is significant for the country and really interesting for me personally,” Chubais wrote at the time.
In recent weeks, Chubais grew increasingly critical of the Russian president and would post photographs on his social media accounts of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian politician who was assassinated in 2015, and liberal economist Yegor Gaider who had warned of Putin’s dangerous imperial plans.
“In our arguments about Russia’s future I didn’t always agree with him,” Chubais said after the invasion. “But it appears that Gaidar understood strategic risk better than I, and that I was wrong.”
If Chubais is an isolated case of a Kremlin official resigning and fleeing the country then it may be a manageable hit for Putin. After all, Ukraine’s surprising strength after four weeks of brutal assaults is likely on top of the Russian president’s mind.
Should more Kremlin officials resign, however, Putin will likely be pushed to take drastic action to avoid questions about the legitimacy of his leadership.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
