Garry Kasparov: Why Putin is escalating his efforts to kill me

The cost of his life is $40,000.Garry Kasparov, a former chess world champion and one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, was targeted by a Russian assassination plot on American soil this summer. U.S. prosecutors have charged five Russian intelligence agents in relation to the case.Authorities warned Kasparov this summer that Russian intelligence had marked him as a target. “We had some concerns in Europe. I was already warned about potential threats. But I left Croatia earlier than I usually do in summer, expecting America to be a safe place.” Kasparov told me at a conference in Poland this week. “Not so much… It was a huge surprise to us that they decided to operate in America.”For Kasparov, the threat has reordered his daily life.“It’s very annoying, to use a very mild description,” he said. Your “whole life just goes upside down,” he observed, “because you have to pay attention.”Kasparov holds few illusions about what bodyguards can achieve.“Objectively, if they want to take you down, no security can help you.”Still, he has hardened his defenses.“You can definitely make it more difficult. That’s why, again, I have security. I’m changing my life. My phone can no longer be traced. Will it protect me? God, no. But I’ve made it more difficult for them.”Kasparov, 63, held the world chess title from 1985 to 2000 and was still the world’s top-ranked player when he retired in 2005 to devote himself to Russia’s democracy movement. By early 2013, the Kremlin had intensified its crackdown on political dissidents following mass anti-government protests. Kasparov learned that he was under active investigation and left Moscow, fearing arrest.From abroad, he has repeatedly urged Western governments to confront the Kremlin. In 2016, he co-founded the Free Russia Forum, which brings together opponents of Putin’s rule. Moscow designated him a “foreign agent” in 2022 and a “terrorist and extremist” in 2024, putting him on its international wanted list.Why has the Kremlin’s violent pursuit of Kasparov intensified now?“I’m very loud, making a lot of noise,” he said. “I’m taking a very strong stand for Ukraine, which is the number one priority for Putin.”Kasparov has helped raise money to equip troops fighting for Ukraine. He sees their fight as central to the security of the United States and for the future of Russia. A Ukrainian defeat would be “a big disaster” for American power, emboldening adversaries who are watching whether the West can defend its allies.“Ukraine is a part of the global fight between force of freedom and tyranny. Same as Israel. Israel is fighting the same war… Hamas, Iran, Putin’s shadow. And China is all behind it,” he said. “Ukraine is by far the most important battle,” he added. “Ukrainian defeat would send a signal that the free world is weak. And weakness always provokes. It’s like an animal world. The predator attacks you when it smells blood and weakness.”In previous times, a Russian intelligence service plot to murder a dissident on American soil would be grounds for a major diplomatic confrontation. Not so anymore. Within weeks of the indictment, Washington moved to purchase Russian diesel fuel that was otherwise under sanctions.For Kasparov, that approach gives Putin another reason to keep pushing.“Concessions always embolden the dictators. That’s history,” he says. “I think the administration is desperate. Trump, as you remember, promised to end the war in one day. And it’s not going to end. Putin’s goal is to destroy independent Ukraine. On Putin’s global map, Ukraine doesn’t exist… So where is the compromise?”Targeting political opponents has long been a common thread of Putin’s presidency, and it’s hard not to take him seriously. Anna Politkovskaya, whose reporting exposed Russian atrocities in Chechnya, was shot dead in her Moscow apartment building in October 2006. Boris Nemtsov, Kasparov’s friend and fellow opposition leader, was murdered near the Kremlin in 2015. Alexei Navalny narrowly survived a nerve-agent poisoning in 2020 before dying of another nerve-agent poisoning at an Arctic prison in 2024.“Attacking me or [Mikhail] Khodorkovsky or other prominent dissidents is a signal that ‘I’m [Putin], all powerful,’” he remarked. “It says I can get you anywhere. And this is not so much a signal to us but to others.”LOCKHEED MARTIN ANNOUNCES NEW AIR DEFENSE INTERCEPTOR MISSILE DESIGNED FOR HYPERSONICSFor Kasparov, confronting that threat begins with helping Ukraine win, a position that also puts him at odds with parts of Russia’s exiled opposition.“As any Russian, I still have certain responsibility for the crimes committed. Not guilt, but responsibility,” he said. “It’s very important for the future of Russia that we take a moral stand. Ukraine winning the war is important for Russia to have a chance to return to the family of civilized nations… Pretending that you can be neutral, as many of my [Russian opposition] colleagues unfortunately do, it’s a losing proposition.”