Prominent public figures reject Kremlin over war
The resignation of a senior Russian government official and his reported move abroad wasn’t the first voluntary departure of a person from a state job since the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine, but it certainly was one of the most striking.
Anatoly Chubais, who was President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to international organizations on sustainable development, is well known in Russia. He held high-profile posts for nearly three decades, beginning under Boris Yeltsin, the first post-Soviet leader.
A number of public figures have condemned the invasion of Ukraine and left their posts at state-run institutions and companies, which could signal divisions in Russia’s official ranks over the war. So far there have been no indications that the resignations have reached into Putin’s inner circle.
The handful of departures came as Putin blasted those opposing his course as “scum and traitors,” which Russian society would spit out “like a gnat.”
On Wednesday, the Kremlin confirmed media reports about the resignation of Chubais, 66, who was the architect of Yeltsin’s privatization campaign. The reports, citing anonymous sources, said he stepped down because of the war. He hasn’t publicly commented on his resignation.
Under Yeltsin, Chubais reportedly recommended the administration hire Putin, a move that was widely seen as an important steppingstone in Putin’s career. Putin became president of Russia in 2000, when Yeltsin stepped down.
Arkady Dvorkovich once served as Russia’s deputy prime minister and is currently chairman of the International Chess Federation, or FIDE. He criticized the war with Ukraine in comments made to Mother Jones magazine on March 14 and came under fire from the Kremlin’s ruling party.
“Wars are the worst things one might face in life. Any war. Anywhere. Wars do not just kill priceless lives. Wars kill hopes and aspirations, freeze or destroy relationships and connections. Including this war,” he said.
Two days after Dvorkovich’s comments, a top official in the United Russia party demanded that he be fired as chair of the state-backed Skolkovo Foundation. Last week, the foundation reported that Dvorkovich decided to step down.
Lilia Gildeyeva was a longtime anchor at the state-funded NTV channel, which for two decades has carefully toed the Kremlin line. She quit the job and left Russia shortly after the invasion.
She told the independent news site the Insider this week that she decided “to stop all this” on the first day of the Feb. 24 invasion.
Zhanna Agalakova was a journalist for another state-run TV channel, Channel One, spending more than 20 years there and working as an anchor and then a correspondent in Paris, New York and other Western countries.
News reports about Agalakova quitting her job began emerging three weeks after the invasion. This week, she gave a news conference in Paris confirming the reports.