Russian dissident Garry Kasparov says US warned him of danger to his life
"My family and I will not truly be safe as long as Putin is in power," says the former chess world champion.
Russian dissident Garry Kasparov says US warned him of danger to his life
Garry Kasparov retired from competitive chess in 2005 to establish political opposition movements in Russia
An exiled Russian opposition figure based in the US says American and Lithuanian security services warned him that his life was at risk.
Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov said he was among two dissidents advised to take precautions, which he said he had already done.
His remarks follow the US Justice Department’s unsealing earlier this month of an indictment charging five people who allegedly work for a network tied to the Kremlin with plotting attacks and murders in countries including the US, with Russian dissidents and defectors as the main focus.
Kasparov wrote in his publication The Next Move that he had not been told directly that he and fellow Free Russia Forum co-founder Ivan Tyutrin were targets, but said both had been warned about their safety.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that it had obtained information showing Kasparov, along with another Russian opposition figure, Ilya Ponomarev, had been warned about the plot over the summer by US authorities.
Citing sources close to Kasparov, the paper said he had been placed under enhanced protection over the summer for the first time since moving to the US.
Kasparov separately wrote: "I will not stop and I will not hide, even if I thought it was possible to do so.
"My family and I will not truly be safe as long as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is in power in Russia - a circumstance shared by millions."
Kasparov left competitive chess in 2005 to pursue politics, founding movements that openly opposed Putin before fleeing Russia in 2013.
He has not returned since. Russia designated him a foreign agent after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and later added him to a list of terrorists and extremists in 2024 - both labels he rejects.
The other reported target, Ponomarev, was the only Russian MP to vote against the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and later went into exile in Ukraine.
He declined to confirm or deny to the Moscow Times whether he had been tipped off about the alleged plot, but said the allegations represented "a new level of escalation" by Russia.
The US Justice Department said a network of individuals working for Russian intelligence services has been active since at least 2024.
It said the so-called RIS Network had been conspiring and carrying out attacks and murders against Russian dissidents and defectors worldwide.
Five alleged members of the network were accused of operating "as part of a global assassination network that reached into the United States, attempting to recruit US citizens and foreigners to carry out killings at the behest of the Kremlin", Assistant Attorney General for national security John A Eisenberg said.
The five people alleged to have organised the plots are Yuri Khrameev, Kirill Khrameev, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, Yaidel Delgado Suarez and Angel Eduardo Castro.
The Justice Department said all five remain at large.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when the indictment was unsealed that he would not comment on the charges until he had heard or seen "any credible evidence" or "tangible facts".