Former chess champion Kasparov told to take precautions amid alleged Russian assassination plot

Kremlin critic and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov said US and Lithuanian security services warned him and his longtime associate Ivan Tyutrin that their lives were in danger.

In a statement on the US social media company X, Kasparov said warnings came amid a US investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate Russian dissidents abroad.

"Neither Ivan nor I were explicitly told that we were the individuals whose names are concealed in the indictment against those accused of carrying out the assassination plot. We were, however, warned by security services in Lithuania and the US that our lives were in danger and that we should take precautions," he said.

Kasparov said he had followed the security advice and would continue to take precautions. Tyutrin, a co-founder of the Free Russia Forum who lives in Lithuania, also said Lithuanian authorities had warned him to leave his home and get rid of his car.

The warnings came after the US Justice Department announced in September that it had charged five people whom prosecutors accuse of working for Russian intelligence and conspiring to conduct attacks and murders, including against a prominent Russian dissident in the US and an individual in Lithuania.

US authorities have not publicly identified either target. Media reports have linked Kasparov and Tyutrin to the case, while also naming former Russian lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov as a possible target. Reuters reported that those identifications have not been confirmed by US authorities.

Kasparov said the news was not entirely unexpected but was nevertheless a shock.

The Kremlin said last month that it had no reason to comment on the US allegations in the absence of credible evidence and facts.

Russia has previously denied conducting assassination plots against opponents abroad, including in the US.