When Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine last year, he dragged millions of his countrymen into a conflict in which they had no say. Now a report suggests that high-ranking officials within his administration have been banned from resigning from their jobs while the war rages on.
The unofficial decree was reported by independent Russian outlet iStories on Monday citing four sources who anonymously disclosed details of the ban. One former FSB officer said they were aware of “at least two cases” where governors made failed attempts to leave their posts in which they were not just blocked from doing so, but the threat of “criminal cases” was also hinted.
The outlet also spoke with another source described as an acquaintance of an official within the Kremlin’s Presidential Administration who had heard about the ban. “There are many who want [to leave] after the start of the war,” the source said. “If everyone leaves, control will be lost.” The report described a view in the administration which regarded the desire to leave as flat-out betrayal, with civil servants instead being ordered to demonstrate “unity” by remaining in post.
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Officers within the FSB—Russia’s main security agency—have previously spoken out about being unable to quit in the wake of Putin’s military mobilization. A decree from the Russian president meant that servicemen under contract could not leave their roles even after their contracts had expired. But the draconian rules were not previously known to also apply to civil servants.
Sources who spoke with iStories said that because the resignation ban is both illegal and informal, some exceptions are possible, including for those wanting to resign on the grounds of health or corruption.
News of the restriction is just the latest sign of Moscow’s desperation to keep its war machine running in spite of growing turmoil within Russia amid battlefield setbacks and outspoken criticism of the Kremlin’s military leadership.
Over the weekend, Moscow’s Defense Ministry admitted that two of its high-ranking commanders were killed while fighting for control of the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Colonel Vyacheslav Makarov, commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade, and Colonel Yevgeny Brovko, the deputy commander of the army corps, were confirmed dead on Sunday.
On the same day, an embarrassing story emerged in Western media that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had offered to reveal the positions of Russian forces to Ukrainian intelligence if Kyiv withdrew its troops from Bakhmut. The mercenary boss’s offer—which was revealed in documents leaked on Discord—was reportedly rejected by Ukrainian officials who didn’t trust Prigozhin to make good on his word.
