09/30/2026
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El Mundo: Russian agents in a network exposed in the US planned the assassination of Garry Kasparov
A network linked to the Russian authorities, known as the RIS Network, is suspected of having planned the assassination of several prominent figures of the Russian opposition, including former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.
According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, which cites sources including people close to the Russian opposition, the targets of the plot also included former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomaryov and dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza. All three are critics of the Kremlin and support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
In September, the FBI and other US agencies announced the discovery of a network that, according to US authorities, was linked to Russia. It is alleged to have included 63-year-old former FSB colonel Yuri Khrameyev, known as “Colonel Yuri,” his 27-year-old son Kirill Khrameyev, an FSB officer, 35-year-old Cuban citizen Oemis Romagosa Durruti, 35-year-old Cuban citizen Yaydel Delgado Suarez, known as “Viking,” and 22-year-old Venezuelan citizen Angel Eduardo Castro.
According to the US Department of Justice, Suarez and Castro took part in recruiting people living in the United States, with the aim of monitoring and attempting to assassinate a prominent Russian dissident residing in the US.
US authorities said that members of the network had recruited people for payment to spy on and kill two individuals in the United States and another person in Lithuania.
Kasparov, who is a Croatian citizen and lives primarily in the United States, is suspected of having been one of the targets. According to El Mundo, citing people close to him, in the summer of 2026 US authorities informed Kasparov that he had been targeted in an assassination plot allegedly orchestrated by the Kremlin.
Following the warning, Kasparov was placed under special protection for the first time since moving to New York in 2013.
Meanwhile, according to El Mundo, the plot against Ilya Ponomaryov had progressed even further. Ponomaryov divides his time between Kyiv and Washington, where he has a residence and an office that serve as the US branch of his political platform, the Congress of People’s Deputies. Russia designated the organization as a “terrorist” organization in December 2025.
The Spanish newspaper raises the possibility that Ponomaryov may be “Victim 1,” the person referred to in US Department of Justice documents.
According to US authorities, Suarez and Castro offered an American man $40,000 to kill “Victim 1,” but he refused. Suarez is then alleged to have attempted to recruit other people to carry out the assassination.
A source close to Ponomaryov told the BBC that this was already the ninth plot to assassinate him, but declined to comment on the details.
