A close ally of Putin and Moscow’s chief negotiator on the Donbas war, who has held key positions in the Kremlin and government for two decades and has served as Russia’s president, he has fallen into disrepair since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kozak was a supporter of a negotiated settlement. Putin chose war, and their positions on Ukraine diverged.

An elderly woman in a handkerchief and a purple robe with bright yellow sunflowers cries while sitting in a chair. She recorded a video message from the Ukrainian village of Bandurovo, in which she addresses a certain Mitya and asks him to stop the war. In the 1960s, she was a teacher in the class where Mitya studied.

Mitya, I tried to explain everything to you so that you would understand. Now explain to me, child: what kind of war is this? Who needs it? I would kneel before the whole of Ukraine – and I would apologize for not adding something to your upbringing, I missed something … I don’t know what else to say. I don’t understand this war. And I can’t understand that you are in the second camp – different from the one where your classmates, our people and I are! ” she says in tears in Ukrainian.

Today, Mitya is Dmytro Mykolayovych Kozak, a Kremlin high-ranking official who has represented Russia in the Donbass negotiation process since 2020. In general, he is the “curator” of the Ukrainian issue in the Kremlin. He was born and graduated from a school in a Ukrainian village near Uman.

The woman who addresses Kozak is his class teacher Natalia Gavrilovna.

Dmitry Kozak is very close to Putin. The President entrusted him with many important matters.

For the past few years, Kozak has served as deputy head of the Russian presidential administration. In this position he was a key curator of the Ukrainian trend, the main goal of the Kremlin was to reintegrate through negotiations two pro-Russian militants controlled by the “self-proclaimed republics” in Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Ukraine. And do it on Putin’s terms.

The Kremlin has failed to achieve its goal in eight years.

After the Russian army invaded Ukraine on February 24, Kozak was de facto removed from the “Ukrainian direction” by the president’s decision and excluded from the information agenda, sources in the Russian Air Force said. They attribute this to the dissatisfaction of the president, who finally lost his temper, was disappointed in the diplomatic settlement, and relied on the use of force.

Two high-ranking officials, personally acquainted with Kozak, told the BBC about his disgrace. They asked to remain anonymous due to fears for their safety and future careers.

Kozak, as a bureaucrat, called for continued work in the “Norman format” of negotiations on the implementation of the Minsk agreements. He believed that more time was needed – and some success would be achieved . .) then he was already in a different modality. Indeed, something like opal happened. He (Kozak) was rudely cut off at the Security Council (Vladimir Putin. – Ed .) “, – the interlocutor explained.

Despite the fact that the “Norman format” and the “Minsk process” were completely nullified after the war, it was Kozak who had to represent Russia in negotiations on the terms of the end of the war, said another interlocutor, referring to the unexpected appearance of Vladimir Medinsky at the head of the Russian delegation.

“Kozak’s disappearance from the agenda for Ukraine is a very strange story. If he hasn’t fallen, what is it? For a moment, the man is the deputy head of the presidential administration, which has two relevant departments,” the source said.

Dmytro Kozak was last mentioned in the context of Donbass and Ukraine on February 21, when an emergency meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation took place, at which all participants supported the recognition of the independence of the DNR and LNR.

“Now politics is overseen by Serhiy Vladylenovych (Kiriyenko. – Ed. ). You have seen, he is already going there, holding meetings,” said another source close to the Kremlin.

The Russian Air Force service was unable to obtain comment from Dmitry Kozak or his representative. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not respond to a request for comment.

The Kremlin told the BBC that this “Minsk format” lost its relevance after February 24, and not Kozak reduced his activity. They also commented on the information about the “disgrace”.

“The negotiations for which Kozak was responsible are over. The point. How can we comment on the word ‘opal’ in the 21st century? We do not live under tsarism,” said a Kremlin official.

However, in late April, RBC reported that in fact these changes have already taken place.

In recent weeks, Kiriyenko and his subordinates have visited Donbas and Mariupol at least twice with the task of ensuring the celebration of May 9 and deciding on referendums on the accession of these territories to Russia.

So far, Kozak’s powers in the Kremlin have been severely curtailed, according to the BBC’s interlocutor. Not only Ukraine was removed from his duties. Another important bloc, Transnistria, was de facto taken from him and handed over to the security forces.

“Transnistria is now being dealt with by completely different people who have nothing to do with civilians. There is no question of political settlement there now,” said a BBC source.

The situation in this unrecognized region has also seriously worsened since 24 February. Two weeks ago, unknown individuals fired a grenade launcher at the office of the local MGB intelligence service and damaged several large repeater antennas.

Russia, as always, blamed the West for these actions. Western intelligence, on the other hand, says the escalation there is good for the Kremlin, and one of Putin’s military goals is to try to break through the corridor from Donbass to Transnistria. General Minnekayev, who commands the troops of the Central Military District, also spoke about this.

Formally, Kozak is still subordinated to two Kremlin subdivisions – the Department for Border Cooperation and the Department for Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (oversees work in the CIS countries). Vladislav Surkov, the previous curator of the Moscow-controlled separatist territories of Donbass, was responsible for only one of the two departments. After the arrival of the Cossack, its functionality became twice as large as its predecessor.

His administrations play a key role in shaping Moscow’s position and policy toward the former Soviet republics. In addition to Ukraine, the territories of Donbass not controlled by Kyiv, as well as Abkhazia and South Ossetia, they are working in Moldova and Transnistria.

As a result, since February 24, the deputy head of the administration has had an “internal link”, and he has not been invited to most of the events, a BBC source familiar with the official said. He was left with mostly office work and several projects. In particular, he “led” the elections in South Ossetia and continues to work in Abkhazia.

“Dmytro Mykolayovych just goes to work. It was the same in Surkov when he was stopped being invited to meetings and somewhere in general. Only one department is doing something sluggish in South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” the source said.

Dmytro Kozak was born in the Kirovohrad region. And he is known there and still remembered. In 2021, the Ukrainian Air Force reported from these places and was able to find a schoolteacher Kozak and his distant relatives who still live in the village of Bandurovo.

Dmytro Kozak was born and raised in Bandurovo, his parents worked on a collective farm. In 1976, he graduated from a local high school.

He went to serve in the army in the special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), then studied a little in Vinnytsia, but managed to enter Leningrad University to study law.

There, in Leningrad, he began his career as a prosecutor, and with the collapse of the Soviet Union, he worked in the city government of Leningrad, where he fell into the orbit of future Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When Putin became president of Russia, Kozak’s career took off – he worked in the leadership of Putin’s administration and government, as well as headed his election headquarters.

Putin trusted Kozak so much that he was responsible for the preparation and construction of the Olympic venues for his favorite product, the 2014 Winter Games.

A few years ago, Kozak left the Russian government and became deputy head of Putin’s administration again. He replaced Vladislav Surkov as curator of the “Ukrainian question” and has since participated in talks in Minsk and in the Normandy format.

And it was he who openly threatened Ukraine at the time of the most acute security crisis this year.

Kozak reiterated Putin’s narrative that Ukraine is the aggressor and that Russia is only defending itself.

Over the years, Kozak has developed an image of a brutal man who can be instructed to solve any issue, and he will “deal” with him.

He is credited with several key achievements in the recent history of Russia. During Vladimir Putin’s first term, Kozak helped the president seize power from more independent and influential governors, helping to build an authoritarian vertical in Russia.

In those years, he was close to resolving the Transnistrian issue. His plan called for Moldova to be transformed into an “asymmetric federation” in which Transnistria and Gagauzia would have a special status, with the possibility of blocking Chisinau’s laws and decisions if they deem them unprofitable.

Signing this document would most likely stop Moldova’s path to European integration, but Moldovan President Volodymyr Voronin refused to sign the Kozak Plan at the last minute.

In 2014 and 2015, Vladimir Putin established a similar mechanism with the “special status” of Donbass in the “Minsk agreements”.

Unlike Surkov, Kozak’s approach allowed concessions, compromises and even some political risk, the Vedomosti newspaper reported . He was ready to continue negotiations, but on February 21, at a famous meeting of the Kremlin Security Council, Putin invited him to give his assessment of the negotiation process.

And Kozak, running ahead, before the war tried to immediately determine the future fate of Donbass.

“Vladimir Vladimirovich, here or later? I just wanted to answer the question of whether to join Donbas or not, what to do with it next, how to use it in negotiations with the West, because this is a very serious problem,” Kozak said. it has not happened yet. Putin stopped him and offered to discuss it later.

The Cossack then looked like the only person with some independent position. But this is unlikely to reassure his schoolteacher Natalia Gavrilovna.

Want to get the most important news in the messenger? Subscribe to our Telegram or Viber !