Russian dissident Garry Kasparov says US warned him of danger to his life

An exiled Russian opposition figure living in the US says he was warned by American and Lithuanian security services that his life was in danger.

Former chess world champion Garry Kasparov said he was one of two dissidents told to take precautions, which he had done.

His comments come after the US Justice Department unsealed an indictment earlier this month charging five people who allegedly work for the Kremlin with plotting attacks and murders in countries including the US, focusing on Russian dissidents and defectors.

Kasparov wrote on his Substack that he had not been told explicitly that he and Free Russia Forum co-founder Ivan Tyutrin were considered targets, but said both had been warned about their safety.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that it had obtained information that 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 he moved to the US.

Kasparov wrote separately: "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 retired from competitive chess in 2005 to pursue a career in politics, founding movements that openly opposed Putin before fleeing Russia in 2013.

He has not returned since. Russia has classed him as a foreign agent following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and subsequently added him to a list of terrorists and extremists in 2024 - both categorisations he rejects.

The other reported target, Ponomarev, was the only Russian MP who voted against the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and 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 marked "a new level of escalation" by Russia.

A network of individuals working for the Russian intelligence services has operated since at least 2024, the US Justice Department said.

It said the so-called RIS Network had been conspiring and conducting attacks and murders on Russian dissidents and defectors around the world.

Five alleged members of the network had been 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 be responsible for organising the plots are Yuri Khrameev, Kirill Khrameev, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, Yaidel Delgado Suarez and Angel Eduardo Castro.

All five remain at large, the Justice Department said.

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".