Garry Kasparov, a former world chess champion and Russian opposition leader living in the US, disclosed that American and Lithuanian security services alerted him about potential threats to his safety. He indicated in his publication The Next Move that while he was not explicitly named as a target, he and Ivan Tyutrin, his co-founder of the Free Russia Forum, had both received security warnings.
According to reporting from Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Kasparov and fellow dissident Ilya Ponomarev were informed by US authorities about the alleged plot during the summer months. The publication cited sources indicating that Kasparov had been provided enhanced protective measures during this period, marking the first time such measures were implemented since his relocation to the United States.
The warnings came in the context of a Justice Department indictment unsealed earlier in the month against five individuals allegedly connected to a Russian intelligence network. The US Justice Department characterized the network as having operated since at least 2024, allegedly conducting coordinated attacks and assassinations targeting Russian dissidents and defectors globally. According to Assistant Attorney General John A Eisenberg, the accused individuals operated as part of what was described as a global assassination network, with activities reaching into the United States and involving efforts to recruit both citizens and foreigners to carry out killings on behalf of the Kremlin.
Kasparov, who abandoned competitive chess in 2005 to engage in political activities opposing Putin, fled Russia in 2013 and has not returned since. Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he was designated a foreign agent, and subsequently added to Russia’s list of terrorists and extremists in 2024, designations he contests. Ponomarev, the other identified individual, was the sole Russian parliamentarian who voted against Crimea’s annexation in 2014 before going into exile in Ukraine. When approached by media outlets, Ponomarev declined to confirm or deny receiving advance notice of the alleged plot but characterized the allegations as reflecting an escalation in Russian actions.
The five individuals named in the indictment—Yuri Khrameev, Kirill Khrameev, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, Yaidel Delgado Suarez, and Angel Eduardo Castro—remain at large according to the Justice Department. The Kremlin’s official response, delivered through spokesman Dmitry Peskov, indicated reluctance to comment on the charges without what he characterized as credible evidence or tangible facts.
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