Decorated with the Hero of the Russian Federation title,[1] he was involved in coordinating the government responses to various violent actions in Chechnya.

Kazanstev was also involved in coordinating the rescue attempt during the Moscow theatre hostage situation, which took place in October 2002.

He commanded the 17th Army Corps (Soviet Union) in 1988-90, located at Frunze, which then became Bishkek in the former Kyrgyz SSR.

[4] In January 2001, he became a member of the Operational Headquarters for the management of counterterrorism actions in the North Caucasus region, created by decree of the President of the Russian Federation.

On 9 March 2004, he was dismissed from this post and replaced by former Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Yakovlev.