Garry Kasparov Confirms US and Lithuanian Security Alerts on Kremlin Threat to Dissidents

Former chess world champion and exiled Russian opposition figure Garry Kasparov has revealed that he received warnings from American and Lithuanian security services about threats to his life, amid a broader plot allegedly orchestrated by Kremlin agents.

Kasparov stated that he was one of two dissidents advised to take precautions, a measure he said he had already implemented. This disclosure follows the recent unsealing of a US Justice Department indictment charging five individuals linked to the Kremlin with planning attacks and murders targeting Russian dissidents and defectors, including within the United States.

In a post on his Substack, Kasparov clarified that while he and Free Russia Forum co-founder Ivan Tyutrin were not explicitly identified as targets, both had been alerted to potential dangers. Reports from Spanish newspaper El Mundo indicated that Kasparov, along with another opposition figure, Ilya Ponomarev, were warned by US authorities over the summer about the alleged plot.

According to sources cited by El Mundo, Kasparov was placed under enhanced protection for the first time since relocating to the US. In a separate statement, Kasparov affirmed his resolve: “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 professional chess in 2005 to pursue political activism, founding organizations that opposed Putin’s regime before fleeing Russia in 2013. He has not returned since, and Russia has designated him a foreign agent, later adding him to a list of terrorists and extremists in 2024—labels he rejects.

The other reported target, Ilya Ponomarev, was the sole Russian parliamentarian to vote against the 2014 annexation of Crimea and has been in exile in Ukraine. When approached by the Moscow Times, Ponomarev declined to confirm or deny the warnings but described the allegations as “a new level of escalation” by Russia.

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