Putin's aide Anatoly Chubais resigns, leaves Russia; says no plan to return

Chubais has been one of the most high-profile liberals associated with the Russian government.

Vladimir Putin's special representative Anatoly Chubais has resigned from his position amid war with Ukraine in a big blow to Kremlin, reported Reuters.

Valdimir Putin and Anatoly Chubais

Known as the architect of Russia's post-Soviet economic reforms, Chubais once served as former President Boris Yeltsin's chief of staff. He was appointed to the post of Kremlin special envoy in 2020, days after he resigned as the head of state technology firm RUSNANO.

The ex-Kremlin special envoy was in the small group of influential economists under Yegor Gaidar who had tried to cement Russia's post-Soviet transition that threw tens of millions of former Soviet citizens into poverty. He was also one of the most important Russians of the chaotic immediate post-Soviet era. However, to supporters, Chubais was a hero who prevented Russia from tipping into civil war.

Chubais has been one of the most high-profile liberals associated with the Russian government. According to sources cited by Reuters, Chubais does not intend to return to Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine in a televised address on February 24. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine with the aim of ‘demilitarisation and denazification’, sparking the biggest war on a European state since World War II. According to Putin, this was ‘necessary’ because NATO's enlargement threatened Russia.

Since then, Ukraine has been bombed several times by the Russian military, leading to massive destruction and deaths. The besieged city of Ukraine's Mariupol has been the worst hit so far, followed by Lviv, Kyiv. According to Mariupol officials, at least over 50 to 100 bombs are falling in the city. The war has forced millions of people to flee the war-torn country.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called for worldwide protest as war marks a grim one-month milestone. "Come from your offices, your homes, your schools, and universities, come in the name of peace, come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life," Zelenskyy said in his appeal for a worldwide March 24 demonstration.