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A top Russian official with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin has resigned from his post over internal disagreements about the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Getting into it: Dmitry Kozak, a longtime Kremlin insider and deputy chief of staff to President Putin, formally stepped down from his role. Kozak had been working alongside Putin since his early political days in St. Petersburg. He reportedly became one of a few senior officials known to have quietly opposed the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Multiple reports, including from The New York Times and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), confirm that Kozak had tried to broker a peace deal with Kyiv shortly before the February 2022 invasion, under which Ukraine would abandon its NATO aspirations. However, Putin rejected the proposal in favor of launching the invasion and pursuing territorial annexation.

Kozak’s opposition to the war never surfaced publicly, but he is said to have expressed doubts internally and urged Putin to seek a negotiated settlement. He reportedly stood alone among senior officials at a security council meeting on the eve of the invasion, voicing dissent against the military escalation. Over the following years, his influence within the Kremlin steadily diminished. Key elements of his job were transferred over to Putin loyalists who supported Russia’s war effort. In August 2025, Putin issued a decree abolishing two Kremlin departments directly under Kozak’s oversight, widely interpreted as a prelude to his removal.

Russian state media outlets such as RT and RBC presented Kozak’s exit as a voluntary move, with unnamed sources claiming he resigned “of his own free will” to pursue opportunities in the private sector.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Kozak’s resignation during a press briefing, stating that he had submitted the request “for his own personal reasons.” Peskov added that the presidential decree formalizing the resignation had not yet been published at the time. Notably, the Kremlin’s announcement offered no reassignment or honorary position for Kozak (which is unusual for someone who has been in their position for so long).