Russia labels former Putin adviser Andrei Illarionov a ‘foreign agent’

Former Kremlin economic adviser Andrei Illarionov was added to a registry of foreign agents, Russia’s Justice Ministry disclosed late on Friday, a designation the government applies to almost all its opponents.

People on the list may be closely monitored and are often required to provide detailed information about their sources of income, expenditure and a range of activities to the government or risk prosecution if they fail to provide adequate answers to the Russian government’s queries.

Illarionov, who resigned from the Kremlin in 2005 and moved to the United States, is critical of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has called Russian policies of recent years “a catastrophe”.

From 2000 to December 2005 Illarionov was the chief economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the president’s personal representative in the G‑8.

At the end of 2005, he resigned and became an outspoken critic of Putin and the Kremlin. He is one of Russia’s most forceful and articulate advocates of an open society and democratic capitalism.

The Russian Justice Ministry said that Illarionov was guilty of “spreading false information” about Russian authorities and their decisions.

Illarionov did not immediately comment on the designation.