NYT: Putin's Longesttime Ally Spoke Out Against The War

• 10.08.2025, 14:56

Dmitry Kozak warned that this would lead to disaster.

Discontent is brewing among Russia's power elite over the brutal war against Ukraine and the generally totalitarian police regime that has developed in Russia. One of the few who openly opposes the war (though not publicly) is one of Putin's oldest associates, Dmitri Kozak. This is reported by The New York Times.

Kozak was born in Soviet Ukraine, served in Soviet special forces and worked with Putin in St. Petersburg's mayor's office in the 1990s. When Putin became Russia's prime minister in 1999, he appointed Kozak as his chief of staff. In the years that followed, Kozak remained hardly Putin's closest ally, directing his top projects, from preparing for the 2014 Sochi Olympics to integrating occupied Crimea into the Russian system.

As the NYT notes, Kozak has been Putin's faithful aide for "some of the most delicate tasks" for decades. However, three people close to the Kremlin, as well as two knowledgeable Western officials, told the publication that today Dmitry Kozak is in charge of almost nothing, with Sergei Kiriyenko taking over almost all of his powers.

"Kozak is said to have disappointed Putin because Kozak made it clear that he thought invading Ukraine was a mistake," the NYT writes.

Sources say that on the eve of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kozak advised the Russian dictator against it. According to insiders, he allegedly warned Putin of the dire consequences of a full-scale invasion, predicting fierce Ukrainian resistance.