Russia's political arena was shocked, and the "veteran figure" suddenly resigned. Putin left him enough decency and personally signed a dismissal order.
Putin and Kozak have worked together for a long time.
According to Russian media reports on September 18, Russian President Dmitry Kozak, deputy head of office and Putin’s 30-year ally, has resigned.
He became another high-level official in Putin's inner circle who voluntarily resigned since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
From his background, the man belonged to the St. Petersburg gang and was involved in important events such as the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the preparation for the Sochi Winter Olympics.
In 1999, when Putin became Prime Minister of Russia, Mr. Kozak was a member of the Russian Federation.St. Petersburg City Government Officials, joined Putin's team.
Due to his outstanding work performance, Kozak won Putin's trust and served as Russian Deputy Prime Minister from 2008 to 2020.
Even two years before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2020, Kozak served as Russia’s full-time representative for Ukraine policy and led the negotiations.
Kozak announces resignation
It can be said that, Kozak is in the Putin government."Veteran" figureHis sudden resignation shocked the outside world.
After all, during the decades of Putin’s reign, very few core officials were allowed to “totally leave the system,” most of whom had been transferred.
For example, after Medvedev was not president, he became the vice chairman of the Russian Federal Security Council; In addition, after shoigu resigned as Russian Defense Minister, he directly became the secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and remained Putin's right-hand man.
Would Kozak still be “reactivated” by Putin after his resignation?
However, for this old subordinate who has been with him for many years, Putin still gave him the decency he deserved. Kremlin spokesman Peskov confirmed that,He resigned voluntarily.In other words, it was not taken by Putin.
After the resignation of Kozak, Later on the 18th, Putin, as president,Signed an order formally removing him from his post as Deputy Chief of the Presidential Office，It is not clear whether he will be transferred to other positions.
Putin signed the order.
And does the departure of Kozak, brought with it the shock of the Russian high-level power structure, mean that the “St. Petersburg gang” is gradually diminishing?
You know, Kozak is the second "old team" to leave the inner circle in recent years. Does this signal mean that Putin is gradually relying on a group of new forces such as Kadyrov of the Chechen department and Shoigu of the security department?
In this regard, the intersection of Western public opinion also deserves considerable attention. The New York Times, citing an anonymous source, said Kozak had privately repeatedly criticized the Russian-Ukrainian conflict as a "mistake", and earlier this year also suggested Putin a ceasefire and peace talks.
In addition, he also advocated weakening the power of the security sector, promoting judicial reform, increasing disagreements with Putin's hard line, and opposing the stance of hawkists in the cabinet.
From this perspective, Kozak “proactively” resigned, not only for his personal stay, It is also the third year after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict entered, the battlefield fell into a deadlock, and part of the Moscow elite revolved around the contradiction of "war and peace" is gradually becoming public.
Russia has tried to resume peace talks this year.
Simply put, the differences between the two factions may be focused on a strategic level:
The doves advocate "partial compromise in exchange for a ceasefire as soon as possible", while the hawks insist that "a comprehensive victory must be achieved", and the two sides are in such a stalemate.
And from a deeper perspective, Kozak’s departure may also mean a transfer of power across generations.
As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine gradually comes to an end, a group of traditional "St. Petersburg technocrats" are about to give way to the military meritorious groups that rose during the war;
Finally, judging from the attention paid by the western media to this matter, this is also an attempt to infiltrate western public opinion:
By deliberately magnifying the "cracks" in Putin's inner circle, he tried to shape the "isolated image" of Russia.
Russia's peace talks are in a standstill.
As for this high-level shock of Russia, what impact will it have on the course of the situation in Russia and Ukraine?