A Russian Reformer, Anatoly Chubais, has stepped down from his role as an International Envoy for Russian President, Vladimir Putin, making him the most Senior Official to resign since Russia’s invasion on Ukraine.

According to Russian reports, he is currently in Turkey with his wife. Mr. Chubais was given the job of coordinating Russia’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) internationally.

During the war which began on Thursday, February 24, 2022, Mr. Chubais posted a picture of a murdered opposition figure, in what was seen as a critical gesture, but there was no comment to accompany his Facebook photo of Boris Nemtsov, on the anniversary of his killing. However, Chubais made no comments yet on his resignation.

A source told the Russian State-owned News Agency that Mr. Chubais left Russia, and also resigned as a Special Representative to President Putin.

“Yes, Chubais has resigned of his own will. But whether he has left [Russia] or stayed, that’s his personal affair,” Kremlin Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov disclosed.

Apart from Mr. Peskov and Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, only few members of the President’s circle have appeared in public in recent weeks.

Silence of some Russian government officials

Ukrainian Presidential Adviser, Mykhaylo Podolyak, on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, intimated that it was interesting that the two top security figures, Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff, Valery Gerasimov, were “nowhere to be seen”, along with the Heads of Russia’s Secret Services.

Chubais was not seen as a Kremlin insider, despite having the post of Special Representative for Ties with International Organisations.

He is best known for his controversial role in helping to reform Russia’s economy in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union. The raft of privatisations under former Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, helped to create a large number of very wealthy oligarchs.

Opposition figures are unimpressed by Mr. Chubais’s resignation. Jailed Leader, Alexei Navalny’s Spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, casted doubt on claims that it is an anti-war protest, rather than “out of fear for his own skin and his own money”.

Russian Government approach towards the media

Russia has clamped down on criticism of the invasion, which began on February, 24, 2022, requiring state-run media to describe it as a “special military operation”.

Several state TV journalists have resigned, including Channel One Editor, Marina Ovsyannikova, who held up a poster saying “Stop the War!” during a prime-time news broadcast, telling Russians they were being lied to.

Per the new law on reporting on the invasion, it bans the dissemination of “false news” about the war and Political Journalist, Alexander Nevzorov, became the most prominent figure yet to be prosecuted, after he posted details about Russia’s deadly attack on a maternity hospital in the Southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, on social media.

NATO to send more troops to eastern Europe

NATO’s Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, has announced that it is set to approve big increases in the Forces deployed on its Eastern flank.

Mr. Stoltenberg was speaking at a news conference on the eve of an emergency summit on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the conference, he pledged more troops for Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania.

NATO is also expected to agree on more support for Ukraine, including greater protection against the use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

“I expect leaders will agree to strengthen NATO’s posture in all domains, with major increases in the Eastern part of the Alliance. On land, in the air and at sea.” Mr Stoltenberg said.

Meanwhile, US President, Joe Biden, is on his way to Brussels for the summit on Thursday, March 24, 2022, and for other meetings with European Leaders.