Kasparov stopped at Moscow airport

Police prevented chess champion and opposition leader Garry Kasparov from boarding a flight to the city of Samara, where he had planned to take part in a protest march coinciding with a Russia-European Union summit, an aide said.

Kasparov said police at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport took his passport and ticket.

“Police at the airport have simply stolen our passports,” he told Echo of Moscow radio.

Another opposition leader, Eduard Limonov, said he also was barred from the flight.

Kasparov is a vocal critic of President Vladimir V. Putin and leader of a movement that has helped organize several protests.