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The Italian government has reportedly not yet ruled out poisoning in the case of a self-exiled senior Kremlin official who became ill over the weekend and had to be hospitalized.
The sudden departure of Anatoly Chubais from Russia in March, at the start of Vladimir Putin’s so-called “army special operation” against Ukraine, was widely noted as a sign of opposition to the war through the influential Kremlin member. He never publicly explained the reasons for his departure, however, Bloomberg cited two anonymous resources at the time that said he opposed the war.
After making headlines by resigning as Putin’s most sensible adviser and allegedly fleeing to Europe, he had largely disappeared from public view until reports were published last weekend that he had been hospitalized with likely debilitating symptoms.
In comments to Russian journalist Ksenia Sobchak at the time, Chubais, 67, had been diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. Sobchak gave an update on his condition on Wednesday and wrote on Telegram that his diagnosis had been confirmed.
“His condition has stabilized, but Anatoly Borisovich is still under intensive care, his legs and arms are working well, his eye is closing, he has partial facial paralysis,” Sobchak wrote, attaching the update to Chubais’ wife, Avdotya Smirnova.
Italian newspaper L’Unione Sarda reported at the same time that the Italian government is still investigating the cause of Chubais’ sudden illness and intelligence is reportedly waiting for the effects of his blood test to make sure he was not poisoned.
Local prosecutor Chubais as a component of the investigation, according to the report.
Rusnano’s former CEO has reportedly already rejected the hypothesis that he was poisoned. Alexei Navalny and former spy Sergei Skripal.
Chubais, Putin’s close best friend since the 1990s, is an influential figure in Russian politics: in 1996 he even gave Putin, then nothing, his first assignment in the Kremlin.
Although the Kremlin publicly ignored his resignation and departure in March, Putin delivered a fierce speech that same month, attacking Russians who decide on the West over their homeland, precisely the same rhetoric he once used to blow up Skripal.
“Any people, and especially the Russian people, will be able to distinguish patriots from scum and traitors and spit them out like a mosquito that accidentally flew into their mouths,” Putin said, before encouraging “self-cleaning. “descending in Russian society.
His spokesman later clarified that the “purification” described through Putin referred to Russians who “disappear from our lives through themselves,” by emigrating or by resigning from office.
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