“Important stories”: high-ranking officials were forbidden to resign

High-ranking Russian officials were forbidden to leave their posts during the war with Ukraine, the publication “Vazhney istorii” claims with reference to four sources, including a political technologist and an acquaintance of high-ranking employees of the presidential administration.

According to one of the sources, two heads of Russian regions wanted to leave their posts, but the administration forbade them to do so, threatening criminal cases. “At the AP, the desire to leave the post is regarded as treason”, – say the interlocutors of “Important Histories”. At the same time, the ban on the dismissal of civil servants at their own will has no basis in Russian legislation. There are exceptions to the informal rule – you can retire for health reasons or, as the sources hint, for money: “For the opportunity to quietly, quietly leave now, many people will pay well.”

Things are different with military personnel or employees of other security forces. After the announcement of mobilization, contract employees cannot resign without valid reasons until its cancellation (and the decree on it continues to apply). According to the publication, several FSB employees complained to “Important Stories” that they could not resign, despite their desire.

• After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many employees of Russian departments, state-owned companies and state-owned corporations became de facto immovable – it was previously confirmed in the investigation of the “Real Time” project and Radio Liberty “Sistema”.
• In April, the Dossier Center published an interview with Gleb Karakulov, a former FSO employee who fled Russia. According to him, he wanted to resign from the service after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but due to the announcement of mobilization, he was unable to do so and made the decision to leave the country, despite the ban, which he managed due to a combination of circumstances.