Gary Kasparov: On the list of “terrorists and extremists” the Kremlin put the famous Russian chess player

Russian former world champion Gary Kasparov was included in the list of “terrorists and extremists”, compiled by Moscow. Kasparov is a fierce opponent of the Russian president, Former world chess champion Gary Kasparov, a prominent critic of Vladimir Putin, included in the list of “terrorists and extremists”, Russia’s financial surveillance agency, Rosfinmonitoring, broadcast the state news agency RIA, on Wednesday (06.03.2024). The list places restrictions on the banking transactions of individuals and forces them to require approval whenever they want to use their accounts. The 60-year-old Kasparov left Russia in 2014 fearing to be prosecuted. His office did not respond directly to a request to comment on the event. The legend of chess Gary Kasparov Born in 1963 in Soviet Azerbaijan, Gary Kasparov was one of the greatest chess players in history before becoming a fierce opponent of Vladimir Putin. According to the data from the Rosfinmonitoring financial monitoring agency, criminal prosecution was brought against him under the terror article, without further details being given. In late 2023 the Ministry of Interior of Russia found the existence of “indications of a criminal act” in the activities of Kasparov and his partner Ivan Tiutrin, in relation to an auction they organized to support Russian volunteers fighting alongside Ukraine. The Ministry also found evidence of a criminal act, based on the article on their participation in ‘unwelcome organisation’ activities. As undesirable it had been described in February 2023 the organization “Forum of Free Russia”, among whose founders Kasparov was. The case was subsequently taken over by the Investigation Committee. The Russian Justice Ministry had included Kasparov and former oil magnate Mikhail Hodorkovsky in the list of “foreign agents”, subjecting them to heavy bureaucracy, including financial reporting.