'If everyone leaves, control will be lost': Russia 'bans' high-ranking officials from resigning

Russia has banned high-ranking officials from resigning with threats of criminal prosecution, saying that “if everyone leaves, control will be lost” as the war in Ukraine rages on. According to The Moscow Times report, citing the iStories investigative outlet, the Kremlin imposed the unofficial ban after many officials expressed a desire to resign from their posts. “If everyone leaves, control will be lost,” said a source close to the presidential administration of the Kremlin’s logic. According to the report, citing the source, Kremlin sees the desire to resign as a betrayal and that it has tasked civil servants with “demonstrating unity.” “I know of at least two cases where governors tried to leave their posts, but they were not just prohibited by the Internal Policy Department (of the presidential administration), it was also hinted at that they could face criminal prosecution,” The Moscow Times, citing iStories, quoted a former employee in the Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying. According to the report, there are exceptions since the ban is informal and essentially illegal. For instance, officials may be released from their positions due to health or corruption reasons. “Many are willing to pay a high price for the opportunity to quietly and discreetly leave now,” the report quoted a source as saying. As per the mobilisation decree signed by President Vladimir Putin in September 2022, members of the special services, including the majority of FSB employees, cannot resign even after their contracts expire. Previously, Kremlin had also imposed strict restrictions on high-ranking officials, including parliamentarians, governors and top managers of state-owned companies, to travel abroad. With such moves, the presidential administration is trying to prevent “official desertion” and hinder the work of foreign intelligence, according to The Moscow Times sources. “No one can go anywhere without special permission,” The Moscow Times quoted a high-ranking government official as saying. “Despite the ongoing conflict, sometimes Putin himself has to review all these lists and figure out who is going abroad and for what purpose,” a Kremlin official and longtime acquaintance of the president told The Moscow Times. Russia restricts movement According to a Business Insider report dated 15 March, the UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update that “some officials have likely had to forfeit their passports” to Russia’s Federal Security Service. It said that “the measures are likely designed to prevent the flight or defection of increasingly disaffected officials.” The MOD described this as a widening of existing measures which have existed since Soviet times and were tightened in 2014 when Russia occupied Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. It said that “Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian public officials and workers have been subject to increasingly severe foreign travel restrictions.” It also noted that employ closer to Russia’s centre of power “face more severe restrictions; Kremlin officials are banned from all international leisure travel.” In March 2022, Russia banned citizens from leaving Russia with more than $10,000 in cash. And the UK Ministry of Defence said in January that Russia had banned dual-citizen migrant workers from leaving the country as it mulls further military call-ups. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.