No one expected Mikhail Mishustin to last as Russia’s PM. But after four years of war, he’s become synonymous with the role.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin turned 60 this week. His ascent — from head of the Federal Tax Service to prime minister — was swift and largely unforeseen. With a single promotion, Mishustin effectively skipped two rungs of the bureaucratic ladder and landed in Russia’s second-highest office. Meduza special correspondent Andrey Pertsev recounts Mishustin’s rise and explains how he’s managed to stay in the role for years, against all expectations.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Mikhail Mishustin as Russia’s prime minister in 2020, many in the elite treated him as a placeholder expected to make way for a more established political heavyweight. The tax service, where he’d spent the previous decade, was hardly viewed as a launchpad to the top. Nor did Mishustin arrive with a team ready to take over roles in social policy, infrastructure, and other key sectors.
In the fifth year of Moscow’s full-scale war in Ukraine, however, he remains in place — and, by all appearances, acceptable to his boss. President Vladimir Putin seems untroubled by the fact that Mishustin rarely addresses the invasion directly. For a long time, he avoided even uttering the phrase “special military operation,” preferring the vaguer “external challenges.” Only recently has the Kremlin’s official term begun to surface more often in his remarks.
“The government is providing the country’s Armed Forces engaged in the special military operation with the necessary weapons, equipment, and financial resources,” Mishustin told deputies during his annual address to the State Duma on February 25, 2026.
He didn’t linger on the question of arms supplies. Instead, he emphasized social support for service members and their families — “the state’s most important task, duty, and responsibility,” as he put it — before returning to his comfort zone: the economy. Lawmakers heard about a lengthy conversation with Putin over the federal budget deficit.
At the same session, representatives of all parliamentary factions — including the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), which traditionally casts itself as an opposition party — signed off on Mishustin’s performance. Party leader Gennady Zyuganov assured colleagues that the communists would support the prime minister’s team (without elaborating on how).
‘Getting too close to the president in approval ratings is dangerous’
“The government, including its head, hasn’t been lucky. They’ve had to operate in a permanent state of crisis,” a source in the ruling United Russia party’s Duma faction told Meduza. The coronavirus pandemic broke out almost immediately after Mishustin took office. When it subsided in 2021, experts credited the cabinet with preserving “relative economic stability,” though they also noted that the early lifting of restrictions contributed to an estimated 220,000 excess deaths.
No sooner had the pandemic ebbed than a new crisis followed: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The economy was hit by sanctions. As Meduza reported in 2022, Mishustin learned of the president’s plans only on the eve of February 24 and had no opportunity to prepare the government for the new reality.
In some respects, however, he has been fortunate, another source in the United Russia faction said. “These crises aren’t his fault — everyone understands that. So it’s hard to pin anything on him personally. And right now, criticizing the government would mean rocking the boat. The directive is not to get in its way — better yet, to help it.”
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According to this source, Mishustin has steered clear of open conflicts — whether with the Duma leadership or other powerful ministers. He readily seeks support from Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and Federation Council Chair Valentina Matviyenko, and “always thanks everyone,” including publicly.
During that same annual address, Mishustin thanked Volodin three times and Matviyenko twice. He also expressed gratitude to his predecessor, Dmitry Medvedev, for joint work with United Russia and separately praised Medvedev’s record on migration policy. From the podium, he even wished a happy birthday to Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut and Vladislav Davankov, first deputy head of the New People faction — both born on February 25.
A source close to the government says Mishustin is focused on maintaining workable relations with “most representatives of the elite.” “He doesn’t have much to fight for — he already holds the second-most important post. It’s easier to defend than to attack, especially when no one is aggressively encroaching on your turf.”
The same source says Mishustin — once meticulous about his media image — has deliberately scaled back his PR. Greater visibility would mean speaking more often about the war. “He hasn’t abandoned PR entirely, but it’s no longer the same volume.”
Reluctance to address the invasion isn’t the only reason. According to polling by the Levada Center in late January 2026, 72 percent of respondents approved of Mishustin’s performance. Putin’s rating stood at 84 percent. A source close to the presidential administration called the prime minister’s numbers “very good” — and added that this is “not a plus.”
“Getting too close to the president in the ratings is dangerous. There’s no way Mishustin doesn’t understand that — hence the bland PR.”
‘Everybody’s gotten used to it’
Asked whether Mishustin is preparing for September’s State Duma elections, a source in United Russia’s executive committee offered a dry reply: “The prime minister is busy being prime minister.” In other words, he’s unlikely to play a starring role in the campaign.
“The label ‘prime minister’ has fused to him — no first or last name needed. He’s merged with the job, and everybody’s gotten used to it,” the source said. “Though that doesn’t mean Mishustin is eternal. In this country, one person decides everything — the president.”
Back in 2022, Meduza reported that as Putin immersed himself in wartime matters, Mishustin became more accessible to business leaders. “If asked, he’ll step in to resolve problems, help with loan restructurings,” a government-connected source said at the time.
Throughout the war, Mishustin has presented himself more as a manager than a politician — a point noted even by foreign observers. After contracting in 2022, Russia’s economy returned to growth: in 2024, it expanded by about 4.1 percent, and over the first three years of the war GDP rose by more than 10 percent in total, according to official figures. In 2025, however, the economy slipped back into decline amid inflation, high interest rates, labor shortages, sanctions pressure, and other headwinds.
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Now, another source close to the government leadership says, the worsening outlook has forced Mishustin to coordinate key ministries more tightly. “The Finance Ministry has its own agenda, the Economy Ministry has its own, the Trade Ministry wants something else. His job is to reconcile those interests so that, at least somehow, the books balance.”
Major business figures increasingly turn to Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Maxim Oreshkin. Through him, entrepreneurs can raise concerns about tariffs and duties. “A lot of people have started coming to Third Rome [Oreshkin’s think tank] to consult and hash things out there,” a source close to the Duma leadership said.
In mid-January 2026, Mishustin marked six years as head of government. His predecessor Medvedev served nearly eight. But, as one United Russia lawmaker joked to Meduza, Mishustin can already be considered a record-setter: “No prime minister this century has worked through crises like these. Here, one day counts as two — like in pre-trial detention.”
Story by Andrey Pertsev