Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov was reportedly placed under special protection in the United States after authorities warned him that he was a potential target of an alleged Russian intelligence assassination plot.
The extraordinary claim was reported on September 30 by Spanish newspaper El Mundo and subsequently covered by The Moscow Times and other international outlets.
According to the reports, Kasparov and former Russian lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev were among opposition figures allegedly targeted by a network linked to Russian intelligence services.
The US Justice Department has separately confirmed the existence of an alleged Russian intelligence network accused of plotting murders in the United States.
However, prosecutors have not publicly identified Kasparov or Ponomarev as the individuals targeted in the federal indictment.
That distinction is important. The identification of Kasparov and Ponomarev comes from media reporting and sources close to the men, while the Justice Department refers to the intended US target only as “Victim 1.”
Kasparov reportedly warned by US authorities
Kasparov, one of the most famous chess players in history and a longtime critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has lived in New York since 2013.
According to El Mundo, US authorities informed him during the summer that he was a target and subsequently provided him with special protection.
Chess.com, citing the Spanish report and a source close to Kasparov, reported that authorities had confirmed the threat to him.
The alleged plot was reportedly part of a broader operation targeting Russian opposition figures living outside Russia.
Ponomarev, a former member of Russia's State Duma who later became an outspoken opponent of the Kremlin, was also reportedly targeted.
The Moscow Times reported that a Russian intelligence network had planned to assassinate both men in the United States during the summer.
DOJ charged five people earlier in September
The new reports connect with a major US Justice Department case announced on September 15.
Federal prosecutors unsealed charges against five people accused of working for what authorities described as a Russian intelligence services network.
The Justice Department alleges that the network conspired to conduct attacks and murders around the world, including inside the United States.
The five defendants named by prosecutors are Yuri Khrameev, Kirill Khrameev, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, Yaidel Delgado Suarez and Angel Eduardo Castro.
Prosecutors identified Yuri Khrameev as a former Russian intelligence colonel and Kirill Khrameev as an officer in Russia's Federal Security Service, known as the FSB.
The defendants remain at large.
The charges are allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Alleged killers offered $40,000
Details contained in the federal case reveal how serious the alleged operation became.
According to prosecutors, the network recruited a person in the United States to conduct surveillance on a prominent Russian dissident.
That individual was allegedly given two locations associated with the target and instructions for carrying out surveillance.
The person then provided photographs and videos of locations connected with the intended victim.
Prosecutors say Suarez and Castro later offered the individual $40,000 to kill the dissident.
When the recruited person refused to personally carry out the killing, the defendants allegedly asked whether someone else could perform the job.
The Justice Department says the FBI disrupted the operation before the alleged murder could be carried out.
Was Kasparov the person identified as Victim 1?
Not according to the latest media reports.
The federal indictment does not publicly reveal the identity of Victim 1.
El Mundo reportedly identified former Russian lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev as that individual.
Kasparov was allegedly a separate target of the broader network.
This distinction helps explain why Kasparov's name was not widely connected with the Justice Department case when the charges were originally announced on September 15.
At that time, US officials deliberately withheld the identity of the dissident allegedly targeted for assassination.
The latest reporting has now brought Kasparov into the story.
Why would Garry Kasparov be targeted?
Kasparov is best known internationally for chess.
He became the youngest undisputed world chess champion in 1985 at age 22 and dominated elite chess for many years.
But after retiring from professional chess in 2005, Kasparov became increasingly involved in Russian opposition politics.
He emerged as a prominent critic of Putin and eventually left Russia.
Kasparov has continued his political activism from abroad and has regularly spoken about Russia, Ukraine and Western policy toward Moscow.
Russia designated him a foreign agent in 2022 and later placed him on its list of terrorists and extremists.
Those actions form part of the wider political confrontation between Kasparov and the Russian authorities.
The alleged network went far beyond Kasparov
US prosecutors describe a much broader operation than a single assassination attempt.
According to the Justice Department, the alleged Russian intelligence network has operated since at least 2024 and targeted Russian dissidents and defectors.
It also allegedly commissioned attacks against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries considered supportive of Ukraine.
The Justice Department characterized the network as part of Russia's apparatus for conducting external attacks.
Prosecutors allege that members attempted to recruit multiple people inside the United States for surveillance and murder operations.
The indictment also contains allegations concerning planned violence in Europe.
The Justice Department has not suggested that every alleged operation was successfully carried out.
FBI calls it transnational repression
US authorities have framed the case as an example of what they call transnational repression.
The term refers to governments attempting to intimidate, monitor, threaten or attack critics who have moved outside their borders.
When the charges were announced, FBI Director Kash Patel said the alleged plot demonstrated the lengths foreign governments could go to silence critics.
The Justice Department said the FBI and other agencies disrupted the US operation.
CBS News reported when the indictment was released that prosecutors described the suspects as members of a global assassination network targeting Kremlin critics.
Alleged Russian operations in Europe also under scrutiny
The case comes amid increasing scrutiny of suspected Russian intelligence activity across Europe.
Western governments have accused Moscow of using sabotage, cyber operations and other covert activities against countries supporting Ukraine.
Russia has rejected many Western accusations concerning covert operations and interference abroad.
NATO has meanwhile increased intelligence sharing in response to incidents suspected of being connected with Russia, according to comments from the alliance's top military commander reported by Reuters in September.
The alleged assassination network therefore forms part of a much larger security confrontation between Russia and Western countries.
What happens next?
The five defendants charged by US prosecutors remain at large.
That means the criminal case could depend heavily on whether any of them can eventually be arrested or extradited to the United States.
The investigation may also produce additional information about the people allegedly targeted.
For now, US prosecutors have officially confirmed an alleged plot to murder a prominent Russian dissident on American soil, but they have not publicly named that person.
The claim that Garry Kasparov himself was another assassination target comes from El Mundo's reporting and sources close to the former chess champion.
If confirmed by US authorities, the reported threat against Kasparov would add one of the world's most recognizable names to an already extraordinary federal investigation involving alleged Russian intelligence operations inside the United States.
