Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion turned leading Kremlin critic, has said that American and Lithuanian security services warned him that his life is in danger. The 63-year-old dissident, who lives in exile, announced the alert on his social media accounts, saying that he and Ivan Tyutrin, one of his supporters, had both been notified.
The warning places Kasparov among a growing group of prominent Russian opposition figures who have been told by Western authorities that they face serious threats while living outside Russia. He has spent years as one of the most visible opponents of President Vladimir Putin, and his public profile has made him a persistent target of official hostility in Moscow.
Kasparov did not disclose the specific nature of the threat or the evidence behind it. His statement was limited to confirming that the alerts had been issued by the security services of the United States and Lithuania, where he has based part of his political activity. The disclosure follows reporting that he and another exiled Russian opposition politician, Ilya Ponomaryov, were named in an alleged assassination plot on American soil.
The former chess champion, who held the world title from 1985 to 2000, moved into Russian politics in the 2000s and became a co-leader of the opposition coalition The Other Russia. He left Russia in 2013, fearing prosecution, and has since lived in the United States and Europe. In 2014 he acquired Lithuanian citizenship, a status that was later revoked by Lithuanian authorities, though he has continued to travel and organise from the country.
Kasparov has repeatedly warned that Russian security services pursue critics beyond Russia's borders. Those warnings have gained wider attention following the poisoning of Alexei Navalny in 2020 and his death in a Russian prison colony in 2024, as well as the killings of other Putin opponents abroad. Western governments have accused Moscow of carrying out or tolerating such operations, allegations the Kremlin has consistently denied.
The latest alert is likely to intensify scrutiny of the security arrangements for Russian dissidents in the United States and Europe. Lithuania, a Nato and European Union member that borders Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, has become a significant base for exiled Russian opposition figures and has repeatedly clashed with Moscow over espionage and sabotage allegations.
For Kasparov, the warning adds a personal dimension to a long-running political struggle. He has used his international platform to campaign for sanctions against Russian officials and to argue that Western governments must do more to protect those who oppose the Kremlin from exile. His supporters say the alert underlines the continuing danger facing Russian opposition figures even far from Moscow.
There was no immediate public response from the Kremlin or from the security services named in his statement. Kasparov's announcement did not indicate whether he plans to change his travel or public schedule in response to the warning.