Moscow: Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov's name has been added to Moscow's list of "terrorists and extremists" by Rosfinmonitoring, Russia's financial monitoring agency. The listing restricts client bank transactions, requiring users to get approval every time they access their accounts, according to Politico.
Kasparov, an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime, was previously active in Russian opposition but fled the country in 2013 to avoid persecution. In response to the listing, the former World Chess champion called it an "honour that says more about Putin's fascist regime than about me".
“Today would be a good day to add Russia, Putin and all his cronies to the state sponsors of terror list,” he added, referring to a US list of countries found to have "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism". In 2015, Kasparov published a book titled “Winter is Coming”, arguing that Putin and other “enemies of the free world” must be stopped.
Kasparov ended his chess career in 2005 and has become one of the prominent voices against Putin's authority whilst being in exile. After Russia invaded Ukraine in May 2022, the chess player and other public figures founded the Anti-War Committee that called on the international community to declare Russian leaders as "war criminals".
In May 2022, Russia’s justice ministry included Kasparov in a list of “foreign agents,” largely Kremlin critics who are closely monitored by Russian authorities. Kasparov has been residing in the United States for almost a decade.
He was the youngest chess player to become the world champion for the first time in 1985 at the age of 22. Kasparov was ranked world number 1 for a record 255 months overall from 1984 till his retirement.
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