The United States Department of Justice has charged five people with allegedly working for Russian intelligence services to recruit operatives for killings, surveillance and sabotage operations in the United States and Europe.
An indictment unsealed on September 16, 2026 alleges that the group had been active since at least 2024. Prosecutors said on Tuesday that the network sought to arrange attacks and murders internationally, including an attempted plot against a Russian dissident believed to be living in the Washington, DC area.
The defendants are Russian national Yuri Khrameev, 63, his son Kirill Khrameev, 27, the Cuban nationals Oemis Romagoza Durruthy and Yaidel Delgado Suarez, both 35, and Angel Eduardo Castro, a 22-year-old Venezuelan. All five remain at large.
Each defendant is charged with conspiring to finance terrorism. Yuri Khrameev, Suarez and Castro also face charges of conspiring to commit murder for hire. The charges set out prosecutors' allegations, which have not been tested in court.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the alleged plots included an effort to kill a Russian dissident thought to be in the Washington area. Justice Department officials said several people in the US had been recruited to watch Russian dissidents, with targets identified in the US and Lithuania.
According to the department, a person recruited to conduct surveillance on the US-based dissident was offered $40,000 to make the target disappear. That recruit refused to carry out the murder. Prosecutors said the group later tried this summer to have the prominent dissident killed.
A separate alleged plot concerned a person in Lithuania. Last year, prosecutors said, a recruit was offered $25,000 to kill a target whom the group accused of "telling lies about Russia". The intended killing failed after the recruited person declined to carry it out.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said the defendants had tried to enlist US citizens and foreign nationals to carry out killings on the Kremlin's orders. The indictment does not identify the dissident believed to be in the Washington area, the intended Lithuanian target, or the full group of people approached by the network.
The case also concerns alleged plans for attacks on infrastructure in European countries supporting Ukraine. Prosecutors said the group had identified civilian and military infrastructure for possible attacks.
Romagoza Durruthy is accused of recruiting people in 2024 for sabotage operations across Europe. The agents recruited were largely from Spanish-speaking countries and were sent around Europe to carry out arson attacks against businesses and military equipment intended for Ukraine, according to the Justice Department.
The indictment does not say whether any planned arson or sabotage attack was carried out. It also does not specify the infrastructure sites identified by the group or set out the alleged chain of command within Russian intelligence services.
The Justice Department announced the unsealing of the charges one day after DW published an investigation into a member of the alleged network. DW identified Romagoza Durruthy as a salsa teacher in Russia.
Moscow has consistently denied accusations that it has directed assassination operations abroad, including in the US.
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