Kasparov Warned About Putin's Plans

• 17.08.2026, 7:05

The Kremlin may go all in.

Russia has less and less time and resources left, so the risk of it attempting a major breakthrough on the front lines in Ukraine or attacking European countries is increasing significantly.

One of the leaders of the Russian opposition, Garry Kasparov, issued a warning—addressed not only to Ukrainians—in an interview for the YouTube channel “Free Russia Forum” .

The politician was outraged by the reaction of “sane” people to what is happening in Russia: “What surprises me? That so many ‘serious’ people—as they used to say in the USSR—with higher education, intelligent people who have always been able to analyze a situation correctly, are starting to take this ‘puppet theater’ seriously—the changing backdrops—and are beginning to look for some kind of meaning in it. The meaning is the ‘puppet masters’ struggle for the ‘stage.’ There can be no other meaning here.”

Kasparov also shared his concerns about the Kremlin’s plans: “It has now become obvious that the West, grudgingly, acknowledges that an escalation will be inevitable, and this escalation may turn out to be the most serious yet, because Putin also understands (let’s not assume he’s crazy or out of his mind) that there isn’t much time left. They know how to do the math, too. They also understand that the trench warfare of 1916–1917 ended in 1917, so there will most likely be some kind of major breakthrough—or an attempt at one—and it won’t necessarily be on the Ukrainian front. There hasn’t been much success there, and this could very well be an attempt aimed at dragging all of Europe into the war, which is why there’s been a sharp increase in provocations (Poland, Germany, Italy). We can see that the authorities are beginning to prepare and are laying the ideological groundwork in Russia for this transition.”