The Ministry of Justice of Russia has labeled former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who left Russia to denounce the offensive in Ukraine, as a "foreign agent".
The name of Kasyanov, who was the first head of President Vladimir Putin's government in the early 2000s, now appears on the Justice Department's register of "foreign agents," a term reminiscent of the Soviet-era "enemy of the people."
The ministry accuses Kasyanov of "opposing the special military operation in Ukraine" and of being "a member of the Russian Anti-Military Committee - an association whose activity is aimed at discrediting Russian foreign and domestic policy."
This "committee", with very limited activity, was set up abroad last year by several Russian opponents of the government, including exiled former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Kasyanov was Putin's prime minister during the first years of his rule, from 2000 to 2004, but then became highly critical of the Russian president.
In June 2022, he told AFP he no longer recognized Putin, with whom he had worked, and expressed hope that one day Russia would return to a "democratic path".
Before the offensive in Ukraine, Kasyanov headed the The People's Freedom Party (PARNAS), a small liberal group.
In June 2022, he announced that he had left Russia.
The status of "foreign agent" imposes severe administrative restrictions on the person or organization concerned, including regular checks on their sources of funding.
It also mandates that every post, including on social media, be labeled "foreign agent."
The Russian government has stepped up its crackdown on all dissident voices since it launched its offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.
Almost all the main opposition figures are now in prison or in exile. /BGNES
