Exiled Russian opposition figure Garry Kasparov has revealed that American and Lithuanian security services warned him his life was in danger, making him one of two dissidents advised to take protective measures. The former world chess champion confirmed he had followed the guidance given to him, though he did not specify what precautions were involved.
Kasparov's disclosure follows a significant development in the United States, where the Justice Department unsealed an indictment earlier this month charging five individuals with allegedly operating on behalf of a network tied to the Kremlin. The charges relate to an alleged plot to carry out attacks and assassinations in multiple countries, with Russian dissidents and defectors identified as the primary targets.
Writing in his publication The Next Move, Kasparov explained that he had not been explicitly informed that he and Ivan Tyutrin, his co-founder at the Free Russia Forum, were considered specific targets. However, he said both men had received warnings regarding their safety. Kasparov has spent more than a decade living outside Russia after leaving in 2013, and his profile as a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin has made him a persistent focus of Russian state hostility.
The Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that it had obtained information indicating Kasparov, along with another Russian opposition figure, Ilya Ponomarev, had been alerted to the alleged plot over the summer by US authorities. Citing sources close to Kasparov, the publication said he had been placed under enhanced protection for the first time since he moved to the United States. Such protective arrangements typically involve increased security detail, restricted movement and heightened monitoring of potential threats.
In his own written statement, Kasparov struck a defiant tone, saying he would neither stop his activities nor go into hiding, even if he believed concealment were possible. He added that he and his family would not truly be safe as long as Putin remained in power in Russia, a situation he said was shared by millions of people. The remark reflects a longstanding position among Russian opposition figures that the threat they face is structural rather than temporary.
Kasparov retired from competitive chess in 2005 to build a political career, establishing movements that openly challenged Putin's leadership before he fled Russia in 2013. He has not returned to his home country since. Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow designated him a foreign agent, and in 2024 he was added to a list of terrorists and extremists. Kasparov rejects both classifications.
The second reported target, Ponomarev, holds a distinct place in recent Russian political history. He was the only member of the Russian parliament to vote against the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, a decision that effectively ended his political career in Russia and led him into exile in Ukraine. Speaking to the Moscow Times, Ponomarev declined to either confirm or deny whether he had been tipped off about the alleged plot, but described the allegations as marking a new level of escalation by Russia.
According to the US Justice Department, a network of individuals working for Russian intelligence services has been active since at least 2024. The department said the group, referred to as the RIS Network, had been conspiring to carry out attacks and murders targeting Russian dissidents and defectors around the world. The indictment represents one of the most detailed public accounts to date of alleged Kremlin-linked operations beyond Russia's borders.
Five alleged members of the network face accusations of operating as part of what officials described as a global assassination network that reached into the United States. Authorities say the group attempted to recruit both US citizens and foreign nationals to carry out killings at the direction of the Kremlin. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A Eisenberg characterised the operation in those terms when the charges were announced.
The five individuals named as allegedly 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, according to the Justice Department, meaning none has been taken into custody in connection with the charges. The fact that the suspects have not been apprehended raises questions about the reach of US law enforcement in cases involving foreign intelligence-linked defendants.
The Kremlin has responded cautiously to the indictment. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time the charges were unsealed that he would not comment until he had heard or seen what he described as any credible evidence or tangible facts. That response is consistent with Moscow's usual practice of dismissing allegations linked to operations against dissidents abroad without directly addressing the specifics.
The warnings to Kasparov and Ponomarev underline the heightened risks facing Russian opposition figures who have left the country. Exile, once viewed as a form of relative safety, has increasingly come to be seen as offering limited protection, particularly for those who maintain a public profile and continue to criticise the Kremlin from abroad. The alleged network's reported ambition to recruit operatives inside the US suggests a willingness to extend operations into countries that dissidents had regarded as secure.
For Kasparov, the episode adds another chapter to a long confrontation with Russian authorities that began well before he left the country. His transition from chess champion to political activist gave him an international platform that he has used consistently to argue that Putin's grip on power poses a danger both to Russians and to the wider world. His decision to remain visible and outspoken, despite the warnings, signals that he intends to continue that role regardless of the personal risk.
The broader implication of the indictment and the warnings is that the United States is now treating alleged Russian operations against dissidents on American soil as a matter of criminal justice rather than solely an intelligence concern. That approach places the allegations in the public record and creates legal pressure, even when suspects remain beyond reach. Whether it alters the behaviour of those accused or the networks they allegedly serve remains an open question.
For now, the focus remains on the individuals who were warned. Both Kasparov and Ponomarev have chosen to remain active, and neither has indicated any intention of withdrawing from public life. Their responses suggest that the warnings, while serious, have not achieved any silencing effect, and that the confrontation between the Kremlin and its exiled critics is likely to continue in the months ahead.
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