Anatoly Chubais, the architect of Russia's post-Soviet economic reforms, has quit his post as a Kremlin special envoy and left the country, a source told Reuters, in the highest-profile protest by a Russian figure against the Ukraine invasion.
Chubais, who once served as former President Boris Yeltsin’s chief of staff, left his post as Vladimir Putin's special representative for ties with international organizations, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
He was appointed to the post, which was charged with "achieving goals of sustainable development," in 2020, days after resigning as the head of state technology firm RUSNANO which he had run since 2008.
The source did not say why he decided to leave the country. Asked to comment by a Reuters reporter, Chubais hung up the phone.
According to Russia's RBK media group, two acquaintances of Chubais said that he and his wife left for Turkey's most populated city Istanbul. One of the publication's sources claims that Chubais "was going to return" to Russia. An acquaintance of Chubais's wife also confirmed that she was in Istanbul.
Many Russians blame Chubais for allowing a small group of tycoons to enrich themselves in the privatizations of the 1990s while millions of Russians were left in poverty amid economic collapse and crisis.
In recent years he continued to call for economic reform and was one of the most high-profile liberals associated with the Russian government.
In 2010 he warned that the rise of fascism was Russia’s single biggest threat and could rip the country apart.
