US Warned Kasparov of Danger to His Life — SkimNews
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- Garry Kasparov was warned by US and Lithuanian security services that his life was in danger, and was placed under enhanced protection over the summer — the first such step since he moved to the United States.
- The US Justice Department unsealed an indictment earlier this month charging five people — Yuri Khrameev, Kirill Khrameev, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, Yaidel Delgado Suarez, and Angel Eduardo Castro — all of whom remain at large.
- The alleged "RIS Network" has been operating since at least 2024, conspiring in attacks and murders of Russian dissidents and defectors worldwide and attempting to recruit US citizens and foreigners to carry out killings at the Kremlin's behest, according to Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.
- Kasparov and fellow Free Russia Forum co-founder Ivan Tyutrin were both warned; another dissident, Ilya Ponomarev — the only Russian MP to vote against the 2014 annexation of Crimea — declined to confirm or deny being tipped off, calling the allegations "a new level of escalation."
- Kasparov wrote: "I will not stop and I will not hide," adding that his family "will not truly be safe as long as Putin is in power in Russia — a circumstance shared by millions."
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment, saying he had not seen "any credible evidence" or "tangible facts"; Kasparov was classified a Russian foreign agent in 2022 and added to a list of terrorists and extremists in 2024 — categorizations he rejects.
Why it matters: The indictment documents an alleged Kremlin-directed assassination network reaching into the United States — and all five named suspects are still at large — meaning US authorities have formally identified an active Russian intelligence threat targeting dissidents on American soil rather than just warning of one.
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