The former Russian prime minister turned Kremlin critic Mikhail Kasyanov has been added to a list of “foreign agents”, Russia’s justice ministry has announced.
Kasyanov, who was the first head of Putin’s government in the early 2000s, now appears in the justice ministry’s register of foreign agents, a term reminiscent of the Soviet-era “enemy of the people”.
Russian law allows for figures and organisations receiving money or support from outside the country to be designated as foreign agents, the pejorative connotations of which could undermine their credibility.
The law, which has been used extensively against opposition figures and independent news media, requires material published by a designee to carry a prominent disclaimer stating that it comes from a foreign agent.
The ministry accused Kasyanov of having “opposed the special military operation in Ukraine” and of being “a member of the Anti-War Committee of Russia, an association whose activities are aimed at discrediting Russian foreign and domestic policy”.
This AWCR, with very limited activities, was set up abroad last year by several Russian opponents of the government, including the exiled former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
The ministry’s website says Kasyanov “took part in the creation and dissemination of messages and materials of foreign agents to an unlimited circle of people, disseminated false information about the decisions taken by public authorities of the Russian Federation and the policies pursued by them” and “opposed the special military operation in Ukraine”.
Kasyanov became prime minister in 2000 after Putin was elected to the presidency and served through 2004, when he was dismissed. He was primarily responsible for economic reforms, including Russia’s adoption of a flat income tax.
He became a prominent opposition figure after leaving office and attempted to run for president in 2008, but his candidacy was rejected by the national election commission.
Kasyanov faded from view as Russia’s opposition weakened under arrests and repressions. After Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Kasyanov left the country and has been reported to be in Latvia.
