The Russian judiciary yesterday described as a “foreign agent” the former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who became an opponent of the Kremlin and left Russia denouncing the invasion of Ukraine.

Kasyanov, who served as Vladimir Putin’s first head of government in the early 2000s, is now on the Justice Department’s “foreign agents” registry — a pejorative designation reminiscent of its “enemy of the people” Soviet era.

The ministry accuses Kasyanov of being “opposed to the special military operation in Ukraine” and of being “a member of the Russian anti-war committee, an organization whose activities are aimed at discrediting Russian foreign and domestic policy.”

This “committee”, with very limited activities, was created in 2022 abroad by Russian dissidents, including the exiled former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Putin’s prime minister during his first years in power, from 2000 to 2004, Kasyanov subsequently became highly critical of the Russian president.

In June 2022, Kasyanov told AFP that he no longer recognized Vladimir Putin with whom he had worked, saying he hoped Russia would one day return to the “democratic path”.

Before the invasion of Ukraine, Kasyanov was the leader of the People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS), a small liberal party. In June 2022, he announced that he had left Russia.

“Foreign agent” status is imposed on persons or entities subject to strict administrative restrictions, such as regular scrutiny of their sources of funding. It also mandates that every publication, even on social media, be accompanied by the label “foreign agent”.

The Kremlin has stepped up efforts to suppress any critical voice since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Almost all prominent dissidents are in prison or exiled abroad.