Russia · updated 2h ago · 2 min read
U.S. Authorities Provide Kasparov Protection After Russian Plot To Kill Kasparov And Ponomarev
U.S. authorities informed Kasparov he was targeted and provided protection. The plan aimed to kill Kasparov and Ilya Ponomarev in the U.S. and Europe.
El Mundo mediated targets: Kara-Murza treated as possible target by some outlets.
5 of 6 outlets skipped it: “Land measurement” meant surveillance and “construction” meant assassination.
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The Moscow Times
“El Mundo did not indicate whether Ponomarev, who lives between Kyiv and Washington, was offered the same protection.”Read the original ↗
UA.NEWS
“The third potential victim was to be killed in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.”Read the original ↗
Some outlets hint at an additional named figure while others omit him.
U.S. protection, Kremlin plot
U.S. authorities provided chess champion Garry Kasparov special protection for the first time since he moved to New York in 2013 after they told him he was the target of a Kremlin plan to kill him. The contacts of five organizers with people in charge of tracking and killing opponents coincided with the moment Kasparov and Ilya Ponomarev were alerted to the danger. The plan involved killing Kasparov and Ponomarev in the United States and stabbing or burning a third victim with gasoline in the capital of Lithuania.
The network behind the assassination attempts was described as the RIS Network, working for the intelligence services of the Russian Federation and operating with saboteurs and local criminals in Europe. The U.S. prosecutor’s office published the names of five conspirators acting under Russia’s orders.
Surveillance, payments, refusal
El Mundo said a person recruited by Moscow took images of two locations in Washington related to what the U.S. Prosecutor’s Office calls 'Victim No. 1'.
El Mundo reported that the recruited man was detected by security cameras and that the murder did not materialize because the volunteer pulled back.
Meduza reported that the plot to kill Ponomarev was at an “even more advanced stage,” and that the would-be killer “backed out,” according to El Mundo.
Meduza said El Mundo reported that the group offered $1,000 to $1,500 to photograph the locations and $40,000 to carry out the killing.
Meduza reported that El Mundo described plans for a third killing in Vilnius, with the intended victim ambushed and stabbed to death or doused with gasoline and set on fire.
Targets, charges, and risks
The U.S. prosecutor’s office identified five alleged members of a network linked to Russian intelligence services, and El Mundo said the five were charged with conspiring to finance acts of terrorism with three also facing an additional charge of plotting an assassination for hire. El Mundo named Yuri Jrameev, a former colonel of the Russian intelligence services, and his son Kirill, identified as an officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), among the five suspects. El Mundo said the network had been operating since at least 2024 and had helped carry out attacks primarily in Europe using saboteurs and local criminals, while preparing attacks even in the United States.
Meduza reported that El Mundo suggested Vladimir Kara-Murza may have been a target but gave no details, and that El Mundo also reported plans to kill Ivan Tyutrin and Bashkir activist Ruslan Gabbasov. El Mundo said Kasparov had spent more than two decades fearing for his safety and that after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine began he was included in Russia’s register of "foreign agents" and in 2024 added to the list of "terrorists and extremists."