Until two years ago, Mikhail Kasyanov was one of Russia’s most powerful politicians. As prime minister, he was often at President Vladimir Putin’s side. Yet since being sacked in a government reshuffle – later declaring himself a potential pro-democracy candidate for president in 2008 – he has become almost a non-person in Russia.

His attempts to meet voters in Russia’s regions have been disrupted by bomb hoaxes and demonstrations by Nashi (“Our own”), a pro-Putin youth group set up last year with Kremlin backing. He is ignored by state television. A bank suspected of funding him was raided for alleged malpractice and forced to close. State prosecutors opened an investigation, widely seen as politically motivated, into Mr Kasyanov’s acquisition of a former government dacha.