Russian President Vladimir Putin adviser Anatoly Chubais has resigned from his role as an international envoy, marking the most senior official to step down since Russia invaded Ukraine a month ago.
Sources report that opposition to the war was Chubais’ reason for resignation and that he has left Russia and is in Turkey with his wife.
Chubais played an integral role in Russia’s privatizations in the 1990s. Most recently, he was named the envoy for sustainable development.
Chubais previously signaled what some saw as a possible glimpse into his personal views. After Russia invaded Ukraine last month, he posted a photo of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader and outspoken critic of Putin who was assassinated in 2015.
Just last week, Putin issued a strong message for who he calls “traitors,” or those who have been critical of the war.
“The West will try to rely on the so-called fifth column, on national traitors, on those who earn money here with us but live there. And I mean ‘live there’ not even in the geographical sense of the word, but according to their thoughts, their slavish consciousness,” Putin said according to an English translation of his speech.
“The Russian people will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and will simply spit them out like an insect in their mouth onto the pavement,” he added.
