Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, now a political opposition leader in Russia, said that his personal safety is more of concern now, although he played down the danger of being poisoned following the murder of dissident Alexander Litvinenko.
Kasparov said he never touches the food and drink when he flies on Russian carrier Aeroflot.
"I don't consume any substances there on Aeroflot," Kasparov told Reuters in an interview in London, where he is promoting a new book "How Life Imitates Chess."
He said he has two bodyguards when in Moscow and four or five armed guards when he travels within Russia. He tries not to take international flights on Aeroflot when he can avoid it.
"Does it reduce the risk? No. If the state wants to go after me they will, but what else can I do? I live in peace with myself."
Kasparov also speaks of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, serving a prison term for fraud and tax evasion which, his supporters say, was politically motivated because he was seen as a threat to Putin.
"For me it's a moral duty," Kasparov said. "I believe my country is in trouble. Why should I leave a country which I have been defending for 25 years as world champion?"
He believes political turmoil lies ahead in Russia as discontent over living standards and a lack of democracy grows.
After retiring in 2005 from the world of competitive chess which he dominated for 20 years, Kasparov has been trying to raise an opposition movement in Russia to challenge what he believes is Putin's vice-like grip on power.
"Russia today is a police state," he said. "Democracy is a mere word, and every day the remnants of democracy are vanishing under pressure from the Kremlin."
Kasparov is trying to rally disparate opposition groups, from Communists to liberals, to unite against any handpicked successor to Putin who would have a huge advantage in the upcoming ballot.
Whether he can form such an unlikely coalition, and pick a presidential candidate suitable to all sides, is unclear.
"You may look at our chances as being slim to none. I know that if I had to bet on our success, I wouldn't recommend it. But things are changing."
Source: MoscowNews
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