Vladimir Putin's former aid who fled Russia after the invasion of Ukraine has been hospitalised with suspected poisoning. Photo / Getty
Vladimir Putin's former aid who fled Russia after the invasion of Ukraine has been hospitalised with suspected poisoning. Photo / Getty
A former aide of Vladimir Putin who fled Russia following the invasion of Ukraine is in hospital with rare symptoms amid rumours he may have been poisoned.
Medical test results are still awaited on Anatoly Chubais, who has suddenly lost the use of his legs, amid an extraordinary claim his name was on a hit list.
The Russian politician and former Kremlin chief of staff - who quit as an envoy for Putin over the war in Ukraine - was suddenly taken ill on Sardinia with no feeling in his limbs, triggering concerns he could have been poisoned.
Sources said today he remained in hospital and while his life was no longer in danger, could talk but not walk.
Most reports say he is in Sardinia but several Russian media outlets claim Chubais is being treated at a clinic in Switzerland.
A report by ANSA news agency said medical test results were still pending.
The first report in Russia from journalist and ex-presidential election candidate Ksenia Sobchak said that specialists in hazmat suits had checked the location where he was taken ill.
Sources close to Chubais, 67, say his symptoms led to a preliminary diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare and serious condition which can be life threatening affecting the nerves in the feet, hands and limbs.
Putin's spokesman today expressed sympathy for Chubais, also a former deputy prime minister and architect of the post-Soviet privatisation programme which saw the emergence of the oligarch class, and said any possible help would be offered.
"I am unaware if there have been any appeals for help. Undoubtedly, this is sad news, we wish him the swiftest recovery but at the same time, we don't know any details," he said.
Chubais is seen as the most senior Russian official to resign over the war, and he immediately went abroad.
Yet a post on the anti-Putin General SVR Telegram channel claimed that Chubais had been named on draft hit list, while giving no evidence for such an allegation.
The list was supposedly people hostile to Nikolai Patrushev - a close crony of the president who is secretary of the Russian security council.
The channel has previously claimed that last month there was a mysterious - and unannounced - assassination bid on Patrushev, 71, a former head of the FSB secret service who is seen as the man to whom Putin hands power when he is absent for medical treatment, and also a key architect of the war in Ukraine.
Anatoly Chubais is in hospital with fears he has been poisoned. Photo / Getty
"The list is large and contains 18 names of fairly well-known people, while Patrushev does not provide any evidence that would indicate that these people were directly related to the organisation of the assassination attempt," said the channel.
"This is more like an attempt by the secretary of the security council to settle scores with old 'well-wishers' by eliminating people who are personally objectionable to him in competing clans."
Patrushev "included in it several people to whom Putin feels personal dislike or has some doubts about sincere loyalty".
"For example, Anatoly Chubais, the former chairman of the board of RUSNANO and special representative of the president for relations with international organisations…was included in the list.
"Judging by the fact that after talking with the president Patrushev was in good and high spirits, Putin supported him and agreed to 'settling scores' with people from the list.
"And then, surprisingly, on Sunday, a number of information resources reported a sharp deterioration in Anatoly Chubais' health.
"Knowing how the system works, we can assume that this is most likely a coincidence, since there was simply no time to prepare an assassination attempt, and Patrushev prefers to carefully prepare special operations of this kind."
Patrushev is, like Putin, a former head of the FSB security service.
There are claims that Patrushev's son, Dmitry, 44, the agriculture minister, is being groomed as Putin's ultimate successor.
