US places Garry Kasparov under protection amid Russian plot targeting exiled dissidents
US authorities have put former chess champion Garry Kasparov under special protection after learning of a Kremlin-linked plot to assassinate him and other Russian exiles in the United States.
US officials informed the Free Russia Forum’s founder that a Kremlin-run conspiracy aimed to kill him, leading to a special protection detail for Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion now living in New York. The plot also targeted Ilia Ponomarev, the sole Duma member who voted against the Crimean annexation and now assists Ukrainian defense efforts from exile. Prosecutors disclosed five suspects - a former Russian intelligence colonel, his son, two Cubans and a Venezuelan - accused of conspiring to finance terrorist acts and, for three, to arrange contract killings.
The alleged network, described as the RIS network, has operated since 2024, coordinating surveillance and sabotage against dissidents in Europe and the United States. Additional plans reportedly involved an attack on a third target in Vilnius, Lithuania. The case highlights a renewed Russian willingness to target opponents on foreign soil.
Why it matters
It reveals a Kremlin effort to eliminate critics abroad, raising security concerns for exiled dissidents and U.S. law-enforcement.
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