Senior Vladimir Putin aide quits as war in Ukraine enters second month

Anatoly Chubais is the most senior figure to step down since Russian invasion that triggered strong western sanctions

World and US-led military alliance leaders gather at Nato headquarters in Brussels to discuss the war in Ukraine. Reuters

Smoke rises near a seaport in Berdyansk, Ukraine, whose navy reported it had sunk the Russian ship ‘Orsk’ in the Sea of Asov. AP Photo

Refugees with children wait for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland. AP Photo

A girl sleeps as refugees from Ukraine wait at the railway station in Przemysl, Poland. More than half of Ukraine's children have already been displaced, Unicef said. AFP

A school destroyed in a Russian bomb in Kharkiv. AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from the capital Kyiv. AP

Activists hold placards during a protest in solidarity with Ukraine, at Grand Central Station in New York. AFP

Ukrainian refugees take sandwiches at Krakow Airport before boarding a plane to Zurich, chartered by a Swiss millionaire. AFP

A man collects clothes from a damaged house in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP

A customer checks his rifle in a gun shop in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP

A mother tends to her newborn baby in the shelter of a maternity ward in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP

A serviceman carries the photo of Captain Andrei Paliy, a deputy commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, during a farewell ceremony in Sevastopol, Crimea. AP

A member of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces stands in front of a damaged house in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman guards a military check point in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP

Zinaida Bogdanova, a resident of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, reacts as she stays at a temporary accommodation centre for evacuees located in the building of a local sports school in Taganrog in the Rostov region, Russia. Reuters

Children play in front of a building damaged in fighting during the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

Graves of residents killed by shelling during the Ukraine-Russia conflict are seen in a yard, in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

A Russian army soldier stands next to local residents who queue for humanitarian aid delivered during the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

A Ukrainian serviceman stands on guard as Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, right, speaks alongside his brother, former heavyweight boxing world champion, Wladimir Klitschko, in the Ukrainian capital. AP

Family photos lie amid the rubble of the home of former teacher Natalia. The house, in Kyiv, was hit in a military strike. Reuters

A service member of pro-Russian troops, wearing a uniform without insignia, handles a mortar round at the weapons depot near Marinka, Donetsk. Reuters

Volodymyr, 80, rests inside his apartment, which was damaged by shelling, in Kyiv. AP

This Maxar satellite image shows the remains of high-rise apartment buildings in Mariupol. AFP

A man walks through a residential district of Kyiv that was damaged by shelling. Reuters

A woman exercises near a car and apartments damaged by shelling, in Kyiv. AP

Volunteers at a beach fill sandbags to defend their city, Odesa, in southern Ukraine. AP

A firefighter takes a break from extinguishing flames inside a house in Kyiv that was damaged by shelling. AP

Rescuers conduct search operations and dismantle debris in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AFP

People queue at a pharmacy in Kharkiv. AP

City workers cover the monument to Italian poet, writer and philosopher Dante Alighieri with sandbags to protect against Russian shelling in Kyiv. AFP

Former teacher Natalia stands near the ruins of her house which was hit in a military strike in Kyiv, Ukraine. Reuters

Locals clean the area at a residential district of Kyiv that was damaged by shelling, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters

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A veteran aide to Russia's President Vladimir Putin has resigned, becoming the most senior figure to break with the Kremlin since Mr Putin launched an attack on Ukraine one month ago.

Anatoly Chubais, the president's special envoy to international organisations, was an architect of Russia's post-Soviet economic reforms in the 1990s and was Mr Putin's superior when the future president first joined the Kremlin. He later ran big state businesses under Mr Putin and held a number of political jobs.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Ria Novosti news agency on Wednesday Mr Chubais had resigned of his own accord. He gave no further details.

Mr Chubais has left Russia, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. The agency said he hung up when contacted by phone.

His resignation comes as Russia faces international isolation over Mr Putin's decision to invade Ukraine on February 24. Western sanctions have sought to cut Russia off from the global economy and targeted senior Russian figures including Mr Putin, as well as oligarchs linked to the president.

The war has driven a quarter of Ukraine's 44 million people from their homes and killed thousands of civilians and combatants. Russian forces are attacking the capital, Kyiv, but have so far failed to capture a single major city. Moscow says its aim is to disarm its neighbour, and its "special military operation" is going to plan. It denies targeting civilians.

Western leaders are expected to roll out additional sanctions, including possible measures targeting Russian members of parliament, after an emergency summit of Nato and European leaders at the military alliance's headquarters in Brussels on Thursday.

A western official said the resignation of Mr Chubais, who once served as former president Boris Yeltsin's chief of staff, was a "significant statement" but unlikely to have wider repercussions for Russia's leadership.

Mr Chubais was "relatively high up on the list" of people who might take such a step, the official told Reuters.

"I think it's encouraging that there are senior members of the Russian political class that are doing such things, but it doesn't lead me to a conclusion that this is in any way undermining the security of Putin and his regime, given the iron grip that he holds together with those at the centre of his power," the official said.

"But nonetheless, I think it is an encouraging statement that such a figure would make this move."

Russia has taken strong steps to contain domestic criticism of the war in Ukraine, including the arrests of thousands of protesters and a new law against discrediting the armed forces.