THE Russia’s financial monitoring agency, Rosfinmonitoring, included former world chess champion Garry Kasparovoutstanding critic of the Kremlin, on the list of “terrorists and extremists”state news agency RIA reported today.

The directory places restrictions on people’s banking and forces them to require approval every time they want to use their accounts.

Kasparov, 60, fled Russia in 2014 fearing prosecution. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Born in 1963 in Soviet Azerbaijan, Garry Kasparov was one of the greatest chess players in history before becoming a staunch opponent of Vladimir Putin.

According to the registry of the financial monitoring service Rosfinmonitoring, he was prosecuted under the terrorism article, without giving further details.

Late last year, Russia’s interior ministry found “indications of a criminal act” in the activities of Kasparov and his associate Ivan Tyutrin, in connection with an auction they organized to support Russian volunteers fighting alongside Ukraine. The ministry also found evidence of a criminal act, under the article on their participation in “undesirable organization” activities. In February 2023, the organization “Forum of Free Russia”, among the founders of which was Kasparov, was characterized as undesirable. The case was subsequently taken over by the Investigative Committee.

The Russian Ministry of Justice had in 2022 included Kasparov and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on the list of “foreign agents”, subjecting them to heavy paperwork, including financial reporting.