Updated

Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that Russian authorities spent several months planning to assassinate exiled opposition figures Garry Kasparov and Ilya Ponomaryov while they were in the United States. Ponomaryov said the alleged plot marks a new level of escalation in Russia's actions against its critics abroad, though he declined to confirm whether he had been tipped off in advance. The allegations add to a string of incidents targeting Russian dissidents living in exile and come amid broader concerns about Moscow's willingness to pursue opponents beyond its borders.