A former high-ranking advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin — who fled the country after the invasion of Ukraine — has fallen seriously ill and was in intensive care Sunday, a report said.
Anatoly Chubais was suffering from a neurological disorder at a European hospital, according to Ksenia Sobchak, a Russian television personality and friend of Chubais.
Sobchak, on Telegram, spoke with Chubais’ wife and was told he was suffering from Guillain-Barre syndrome.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Guillain-Barre occurs when a person’s immune system harms the body’s nerves, which can lead to muscle weakness and even paralysis.
Chubais, 67, had grown numb in his hands and legs. Specialists in “chemical protection suits” probed the room where he suddenly got sick, according to the New York Times.
Chubais did not explain why he stepped down from his post in March, though the assumption is it was due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. His high-profile resignation was one of many following the start of the war.
He most recently was part of Putin’s envoy to international organizations on sustainable development and is well-known in the country after holding many top-level posts since the early 1990s.
His illness raises suspicion considering other Kremlin opponents have mysteriously and suddenly gotten sick in the past, most famously Alexei Navalny, who was apparently poisoned in 2020.
With Post wires