The China Mail - Kremlin critic Kasparov says US intelligence warned life 'in danger'

"News that I, along with my longtime associate and co-founder of the Free Russia Forum, Ivan Tyutrin, are on a list of assassination targets did not come as a surprise to me, but it is nevertheless a shock," the 63-year-old said on social media.

"Lithuanian and US security services informed us that our lives were in danger and that we should take precautionary measures," said Kasparov, who lives in exile in the United States. "I did exactly that, and I will continue to do so in the future."

His Vilnius-based ally Tyutrin, 45, told AFP the Lithuanian authorities had warned him two weeks ago to "leave my home urgently and get rid of my car."

The warnings came after the US Department of Justice in mid-September announced charges against five alleged agents of Russian intelligence accused of conspiring to carry out attacks and murders around the world, including in the United States.

The group attempted to have a "prominent Russian dissident" living in the United States murdered this summer in exchange for an estimated $40,000, the department said. The US authorities did not name the Kremlin critic, only identifying him as "Victim-1".

One of the defendants is an officer of Russia's FSB security service.

- 'Assassination plot' -

Spanish newspaper El Mundo said Wednesday, citing sources close to Kasparov, that Russian agents had plotted to murder him as well as former Russian lawmaker-turned-critic Ilya Ponomaryov.

"Neither Ivan nor I were explicitly told that we were the individuals whose names are concealed in the indictment against those accused of carrying out the assassination plot," Kasparov said.

Kasparov -- who has called Russia "fascist" -- retired from chess in 2005 to focus on political activism and has lived in exile in New York for more than a decade.

After Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, Kasparov and Tyutrin in 2016 founded the Free Russia Forum, which advocates support for the Ukrainian military and organises anti-war conferences.

Three years into the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia put the forum on a list of "terrorist" organisations in 2025.

The alleged plot revealed by Washington appears to mark an escalation both in the targeting of dissidents and the reach of Russian operations on Western soil.

While Russian security services have repeatedly targeted Kremlin opponents across Europe, the United States has remained off-limits for decades.

- 'Bottle of gasoline' -

The US Department of Justice also said the Russian agents last year were trying to have murdered a target in Lithuania, identified only as "Victim-2".

One of the Russian agents offered a US citizen $25,000 to kill "Victim-2", suggesting the US citizen could murder him by "throwing a bottle of gasoline" at him or "sticking a knife" in him.

The plot fell apart because the US citizen refused to carry out the murder.

Tyutrin said he did not know if he was "Victim-2".

He said details remained scarce, but he had no doubt Russian security services were seeking to punish him for his support of Ukraine.

"It is clear that Moscow is behind this and it's clear that there is a list of people to be eliminated," he said.

"I believe those at the top of the list are the people who have taken the hardest line against the regime and the strongest stance in support of Ukraine."

- Followed by FBI -

Both Kasparov and Tyutrin pointed to a recent spike in the Kremlin's shadow activities against the West, with Moscow's war against Ukraine in its fifth year and diplomacy stalled.

"This may be part of a broader plan to destabilise the situation, intimidate people, and demonstrate the West's inability to protect those it has committed itself to protecting," Tyutrin said.

He said he was first warned by Lithuania that he was in danger after he helped raise money for Russians fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in 2023 and then visited the Ukrainian front the following year.

Then, on a visit to the United States in April 2024, he was approached by FBI agents at JFK airport in New York.

They said he would be protected for the duration of his trip because he was deemed vulnerable to an attack.

"They said, 'We don't want this to happen on the territory of the United States," he said. "I was followed by FBI agents for two weeks."

Upon his return to Lithuania, Tyutrin was placed under state protection. The security detail was withdrawn several months later.

He said Lithuania did not provide the same level of protection following the most recent warning. Nonetheless, he said he remained grateful to his host country.

"I am grateful to them for informing me," he said. "Forewarned is forearmed."

T.Wu--ThChM