On October 9, 2026, Russian opposition figure and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov criticized the Western media’s coverage of the war in Ukraine in an interview with the American publication The Free Press. As an example, he cited the Gaza Strip, stating that if Israel acted there using the methods of Russian President Vladimir Putin, nothing would be left of Gaza within a day.
Author: Anton Pshedinsky
The words sparked a sharp reaction on social media. Some saw them as a defense of Israel and a reminder of Russian crimes in Ukraine. Others accused Kasparov of a dismissive attitude towards the deaths of Palestinian civilians.
What Kasparov said and how CNN is involved
In the interview titled A Conversation with the Man Putin Wants Dead, Kasparov spoke about the West’s attitude towards Russian aggression.
He is irritated that American TV channels, especially CNN — one of the largest 24-hour news channels in the US — constantly return to events in Gaza, while the war against Ukraine, in his opinion, receives insufficient attention.
In the widely circulated Russian translation, his statement appears as follows:
“So much noise about Gaza in the media. All they talk about is: Gaza, Gaza, Gaza… If Israel did there for even a day what Putin does in Ukraine, there would be no Gaza left long ago.”
Kasparov contrasted the actions of the Russian army and Israel, effectively asserting that the scale and nature of Russian violence significantly exceed Israeli military actions.
However, the statement about the complete destruction of Gaza in 24 hours cannot be verified as a military forecast. It is a political comparison expressed in an emotional form.
What outraged social media users
By October 9-10, the quote was being circulated on Reddit and other social networks. Critics reminded Kasparov of the destroyed neighborhoods of Gaza and the numerous civilian casualties.
One popular comment boiled down to the idea that outstanding chess abilities do not guarantee equally outstanding political judgments.
There were also more substantive objections: is it permissible to defend one country from accusations by suggesting that another army would have destroyed the civilian population even faster?
But there was no unanimous condemnation. Some users supported Kasparov, agreeing with his criticism of Western coverage of the Russian war.
Why this is a painful topic for Israel
For the Israeli reader, it is necessary to consider the circumstances of the war that began after October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel from Gaza, killed about 1,200 people, and took hostages.
Israel launched a military operation against Hamas. The ensuing hostilities led to massive destruction and loss of life in the Gaza Strip.
This is why Kasparov’s attempt to compare the two wars in terms of destructiveness provoked objections. For Israel’s critics, his words sounded like a denial of the scale of the Palestinian tragedy. For Israel’s supporters, they served as a reminder of the difference between the military goals and methods of Russia and the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces.
The debate also concerns accusations of genocide against Israel, which are considered in the international legal sphere and remain a subject of serious disagreement.
NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency previously analyzed why Ukraine maintained an international image of a victim of aggression, while the perception of Israel changed. Kasparov’s words clearly show how far the international audience’s attitudes towards these two wars have diverged.
Kasparov, Ukraine, and the threat from Russia
The interview itself was not only about Gaza.
Kasparov left Russia in 2013 and has been opposing the Putin regime for many years. In 2026, he reported that American law enforcement agencies warned him of a possible assassination threat. His associate Ivan Tyutrin also spoke about the warning in Lithuania.
This story unfolded against the backdrop of accusations against alleged Russian agents preparing attacks on opposition figures abroad.
For Ukraine, Kasparov’s position has long been known: he demands more decisive opposition to Russian aggression. His dissatisfaction with Western media is partly due to the fact that strikes on Ukrainian cities are gradually becoming routine news for foreign viewers.
For Israel, there is an additional dimension here. Russia cooperates with Iran, and Iranian drone technologies are used in the war against Ukraine. Therefore, the discussion of Russian war methods directly affects Israeli perceptions of regional security.
NAnews wrote about how sharp assessments can change the perception of events and countries in the article “Israel, Ukraine, and the Price of Words”.
What remained after the scandal
Kasparov wanted to draw attention to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, but the discussion quickly shifted to his assessment of the Israeli operation in Gaza.
This is a telling result. The question of whether international media sufficiently cover Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities was left almost unanswered.
Instead, another question arose: can the brutality of one war be explained by comparing it to the destruction and human losses in another?
For the Israeli-Ukrainian dialogue, this question is not at all abstract. Both countries closely monitor international reactions to military events — and perceive cases where their own tragedy is considered insufficiently noticed as painful.