Former world champion and Putin critic GM Garry Kasparov has been added to Russia’s list of “terrorists and extremists.” The chess legend calls it “an honor.”

Kasparov’s name is included in the list of “terrorists and extremists” by the Russian Ministry of Justice with an asterisk added to his name, which means a criminal case has been opened against him, according to independent Russian news outlet Meduza.

The news has also been reported by state-owned Russian news agency Tass, which said the Ministry of Internal Affairs found “signs of a crime” in the investigation against Kasparov and his organization. The Investigative Committee did not officially announce the initiation of a case against Kasparov, Meduza reports.

It did not take long for the 13th world champion to comment on the inclusion, characterizing it as “an honor” to his one million followers on X/Twitter.

An honor that says more about Putin’s fascist regime than about me. As Goldwater said, extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue! But all opposition, or simple decency, must be called an extremist by the dictatorship. https://t.co/OuN27A9InN

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 6, 2024

Kasparov later added: “As a quid pro quo, as the saying goes, today would be a good day to add Russia, Putin and all his cronies to the state sponsors of terror list.”

The 60-year-old grandmaster has long been a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin and his regime. He left his native country in 2013 fearing persecution for protests. In a notable incident in 2012 he was arrested outside a Moscow court and reportedly subjected to police brutality.

In 2016, Kasparov co-founded “Free Russia Forum” in Vilnius, Lithuania, an entity representing Russian opposition figures that regularly holds anti-war conferences. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the organization encouraged global acknowledgement of the Russian leadership as war criminals.

Kasparov has since 2022 been declared a “foreign agent,” a designation by the Russian government for persons or entities that receive funding for activities that “contradict the national interests of the Russian Federation.”

Kasparov was the world chess champion from 1985 to 2000, but retired from chess in 2005. He is now more involved in politics and activism, but remains deeply involved in chess through his non-profit educational organization the Kasparov Chess Foundation and as an advisor and commentator during the Grand Chess Tour. He has also occasionally appeared as a player and commentator during Chess960 and blitz tournaments in St. Louis.

He now lives in the U.S.A. and holds a Croatian passport.