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Garry Kasparov and Ilya Ponomaryov Targeted in Alleged Assassination Plot in U.S., Report Says

U.S. prosecutors say five alleged operatives recruited people for surveillance and killings, with one plot backed by a $40,000 payment.

  • On Tuesday, U.S. prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging five men in a Russian intelligence-linked network that plotted to assassinate exiled critics Garry Kasparov and Ilya Ponomaryov in the United States this summer.
  • Operating since at least 2024, the so-called "RIS Network" recruited operatives to conduct surveillance and killings, using coded language like "measuring the land" for surveillance and "construction" for planned attacks.
  • The group offered $1,000 to $1,500 for surveillance photographs and $40,000 for the killing, though the plot collapsed when a recruited operative refused to proceed beyond reconnaissance.
  • Kasparov received special protection after U.S. authorities confirmed he was a target; Ponomaryov declined to confirm if warned but told The Moscow Times the allegations mark "a new level of escalation" by Russia.
  • Parallel threats against exiled activists include Bashkir activist Ruslan Gabbasov, who discovered a tracking device on his car in 2025, highlighting a coordinated, multi-national campaign targeting Kremlin dissidents abroad.
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63 Articles

Lean Left

For several months, Russian intelligence services have been planning the assassinations of prominent opposition figures Garry Kasparov, Ilya Ponomarev and Vladimir Kara-Murza. The post Russia allegedly planned the assassination of Garry Kasparov and other Russian dissidents appeared first on in.gr.

·Greece
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Center

El opositor ruso reacciona tras el reportaje de EL MUNDO sobre un plan para matar a disidentes en Washington y Vilna: "Mi familia y yo no estaremos seguros

Lean Right

Russia is said to have planned to kill chess legend and Putin critic Garry Kasparov, writes Spanish El Mundo. The intended killer is said to have been offered 400,000 kronor.

·Stockholm, Sweden
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Center

The US Department of Justice announced earlier in September that it had filed charges against members of a five-person network that acted under Russian instructions.

·Helsinki, Finland
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Lean Left

Legend of chess, Garry Kasparov, was placed under protection. He is a strong opponent of Vladimir Putin, whom he publicly calls dictator

·Lisboa, Portugal
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Lean Left

Russia may have been preparing assassinations of Kasparov and other opposition figures in the United States — US media have indicted five people linked to the preparation of attacks on Russian <p>opponents. Evidence of personal There is no order from Putin</p>.

·Kyiv, Ukraine
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El Mundo broke the news in Madrid, Spain on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.
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