Kasparov says US and Lithuanian services warned him of threat to his life

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov says he and fellow Russian opposition figure Ivan Tyutrin are on a list of assassination targets. Kasparov said US and Lithuanian security services had warned both men that their lives were in danger and urged them to take precautions. He said he had done so. [1]

Kasparov, a Kremlin critic, said the news was shocking but not unexpected. He also said neither man had been directly told that they were the unnamed people described in US charging documents. [1]

An indictment made public on 15 September describes alleged attempts to recruit people to kill two unidentified targets: a Russian dissident believed to be in the Washington area and another person believed to live near Vilnius. US prosecutors charged five people they say worked for Russian intelligence services; three also face a murder-for-hire conspiracy charge. The defendants are presumed innocent. [3] [4]

The Moscow Times reported on 30 September that the Kremlin and Russia’s embassy in Washington had not commented on the US allegations. Moscow has previously denied carrying out targeted killings abroad. [6]