Anatoli Chubáis, who was known in his time as the czar of privatizations in post-Soviet Russia and who held a high position in Putin's entourage from which he resigned due to disagreement with the invasion of Ukraine, is in an intensive care unit as a consequence of a rare immunological disorder.
A source consulted by the Reuters agency said that Chubáis, 67, "thinks he suffers from Guillain-Barré syndrome" a disease caused by the immune system that damages the peripheral nervous system. "He thinks it's a disease" insists that same source in conditions of anonymity. “The doctors have told him that they have found him in time.” Chubais can talk, but he can't walk.
A European intelligence agency is investigating the case, but has so far not issued any statement on Chubáis's health. Some media and activists linked to the Russian opposition in exile have speculated that Chubais could have been poisoned.
"I don't think it's poison," said a second source, also on condition of anonymity. "He's still in intensive care," he says. Chubais would be accompanied by his wife, Avdotia Smirnova. Guillain-Barré is a rare disorder in which the body's immune system attacks nerves.
The person who first reported Chubáis's illness was television reporter and political activist Ksenia Sobchak, a friend of the hospitalized man. Chubáis could not be consulted immediately and it is unknown in which European city he is hospitalized. Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said he was saddened by Chubais's illness and wished him a speedy recovery.
Chubais was the most powerful among the group of economists who led the transition of the Russian economy from socialism to capitalism. Under Boris Yeltsin, he monitored the privatization process and sold off some of the country's most important industrial groups. Since 2020 he held the position of Special Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation for Relations with International Organizations, where he was in charge of issues related to climate change.
A month after the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, Chubays left office and the country. It was the most relevant position in a series of resignations. Chubáis did not make any statement about the reason for his departure, but those around him took it for granted that he did so out of disagreement with the conflict.
Poisoning has become a weapon of war in Vladimir Putin's Russia. In March 2018, double spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury, UK, with a nerve agent created by the Soviet military, Novichok. In September 2020, the best known of the Russian opponents, Alexei Navalni, could also have been intoxicated with the same element, according to the German health service.
