US charges five in Russian plot to kill dissidents and sabotage Europe
Federal prosecutors in New York indicted five operatives allegedly linked to Russian intelligence who recruited hitmen to assassinate Kremlin dissidents in the United States and coordinate sabotage across European infrastructure, authorities said.
“It is our job to stop America's adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil,” said U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche during a White House briefing. “And that's precisely what we are doing thanks to the work of the FBI and our Justice Department prosecutors.”
Bounty placed on exiled dissident
According to unsealed court records released by the U.S. Department of Justice, the network recruited an operative in the summer of 2026 to kill a prominent Russian dissident residing in the United States, identified as “Victim-1.”
The handlers allegedly promised the recruit a $40,000 bounty for carrying out the assassination. Investigators revealed that the same network sought an operative last year to murder another Russian opposition figure in Lithuania, designated in court filings as “Victim-2.”
FSB officers coordinated European sabotage
Federal authorities identified the leaders of the cell as 63-year-old former Russian intelligence colonel Yuri Khrameev and his son, 27-year-old Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Kirill Khrameev. The operation also coordinated sabotage plots targeting civil infrastructure in Prague and an attack in Lithuania during 2024.
Court documents state the leadership core included 35-year-old Cuban national Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, who resides in Russia. The cell also deployed 35-year-old Cuban national Yaidel Delgado Suarez and 22-year-old Venezuelan national Angel Eduardo Castro as recruiters and logistical facilitators.
“These defendants allegedly operated as part of a global assassination network that reached into the United States, attempting to recruit U.S. citizens and foreigners to carry out killings at the behest of the Kremlin,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg.
All five suspects remain at large. Each defendant faces charges of conspiracy to finance terrorism, which carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison, while Yuri Khrameev, Suarez, and Castro face an additional count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, punishable by up to 10 years.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
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