Russian official Arkady Dvorkovich who spoke out against 'war' leaves post

Former Kremlin aide and ex-deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich on Friday stepped down as chair of the Skolkovo Foundation after becoming a rare official voice of dissent against Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine.

He did not say why he was leaving but praised the foundation for facilitating the development of a "huge number of successful start-ups".

Dvorkovich has become one of the very few Russian officials to publicly condemn what Moscow has termed a "special military operation" against Ukraine.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was up to the bank and Dvorkovich to decide on his post.

A senior member of the ruling United Russia party, Andrei Turchak, had said Dvorkovich should be relieved of his post at Skolkovo.

He accused Dvorkovich of acting in "the enemy's interests".

In a landmark speech this week, President Vladimir Putin defended his tactics in Ukraine and denounced "national traitors", saying the country needed a "natural and necessary self-purification of society."