Russian President Vladimir Putin seen with Anatoly Chubais, who has reportedly quit as Russia’s climate envoy, in 2016.
Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images News | Getty Images
A high-ranking and long-standing aide of Russian President Vladimir Putin has quit his role as Moscow’s climate envoy due to his opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier on Wednesday Bloomberg reported that Anatoly Chubais had stepped down and left the country, citing his opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the situation.
The Kremlin has since confirmed to CNBC that Chubais has left his role, without providing any further details.
Chubais is the highest-ranking individual to publicly break with Putin’s regime with almost all Russian officials and state media maintaining a wall of silence when it comes to criticizing the president, or his invasion of Ukraine.
There have been a few dissenting voices, however.
Last week, Arkady Dvorkovic, a former senior economic advisor to former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, and his one time deputy, also quit his role as chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation.
Chubais was described by Reuters on Wednesday as “the architect of Russia’s post-Soviet economic reforms” and it too cited one source as telling the news agency that Chubais had left his post “for ties with international organisations.” The source did not say why he decided to leave the country.