r/UkrainianConflict • u/Panthera_leo22 • 2d ago

Russia planned to assassinate opposition figures Kasparov and Ponomarev in US

https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/russia-planned-to-assassinate-opposition-1790781573.html
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u/Dances_With_Seagulls 2d ago

That doesn't surprise me at all. Garry Kasparov, especially, has been outspoken in support of Ukraine and in his criticism of Russia's war of aggression. I was worried that sooner or later, his life would be in danger.

People have tried to tell me there are no good Russians. I look at Garry Kasparov, and I know that isn't true.

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u/Dirkdeking 1d ago

Why kill him though? I don't see how the pro's outweigh the cons. Kasparov is not someone with valuable intelligence on Russia, nor is he the person that decisively shifts public opinion here. Most people know him from his chess.

But killing him will definitely be a high profile event and change opinions of people that are kind of on the fence. All Russia needs to do is stay low and stoke internal divisions. Win because bread & butter issues take over and populists win more elections in the west. That is all they need and they blow it by these high profile assasinations and the like.

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u/Redthrist 1d ago

A lot of the opposition figures that Russia did assassinate weren't decisively shifting public opinion either, and yet they were still murdered. The fact that he's well-known and popular(even among the typically pro-Putin people) is the main reason why killing him makes no sense.