On September 16, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a criminal indictment in a federal court in Manhattan charging five alleged Russian intelligence operatives with plotting assassinations and sabotage across the United States and Europe. The Insider described the case as the first documented attempt by Russian intelligence services to carry out a killing on American soil — a dramatic escalation of Moscow's covert campaign against the backers of Ukraine.
The network and its five alleged members
Court papers name the five defendants as Yuri Khrameev, 63, a former colonel in the Russian intelligence services; his son Kirill Khrameev, 27, identified as an officer in Russia's FSB security service; Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35, and Yaidel Delgado Suarez, 35, both Cuban nationals; and Angel Eduardo Castro, 22, a Venezuelan national. Prosecutors say all three of the Latin American men live in Russia and were recruited as cutouts for Moscow's intelligence apparatus.
All five face conspiracy to finance terrorism, punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. Yuri Khrameev, Delgado Suarez and Castro are additionally charged with conspiracy to commit murder for hire, carrying a maximum of 10 years. The indictment describes the group as one arm of the Russian Federation's apparatus used to carry out external attacks, including murder, around the world. The Counterintelligence Division of the FBI's New York Field Office led the investigation, with support from the Washington Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations. All five defendants remain at large.
A $40,000 murder contract in Washington
The case details reveal a chillingly methodical operation. Over the summer, the network recruited a U.S. resident to surveil a well-known Russian dissident living in the United States, identified in court documents as "Victim-1." Delgado Suarez, who went by the nickname "Viking," promised the recruit between $1,000 and $1,500 to photograph and film locations associated with the potential victim. Once the surveillance was complete, the offer escalated: $40,000 to murder the dissident. When the recruit refused to carry out the killing himself, his handlers simply asked him to recommend "someone [who] can do the work."
Commenting on the charges, Attorney General Todd Blanche said: "It is our job to stop America's adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil." The Justice Department's Assistant Attorney General for National Security, John A. Eisenberg, added that the defendants attempted to "recruit U.S. citizens and foreigners to carry out killings at the behest of the Kremlin."
"All the countries that are helping Ukraine"
The indictment reaches beyond American soil. In 2025, the network recruited a U.S. citizen to surveil another Russian dissident, "Victim-2," who lived in Lithuania. The younger Khrameev directed the photography operation, while the elder Khrameev offered the recruit $25,000 to carry out the murder — suggesting the victim could be killed by "throwing a bottle of gasoline" or "sticking a knife" in him. He told the recruit they wanted the man dead for "spreading dirt about my country" and "distorting history."
When the recruit declined, Yuri Khrameev offered a "simpler job": setting fire to a warehouse of property or food, or throwing a bottle of gasoline at an electrical substation. He made the strategic purpose explicit — the targets were "all the countries that are helping Ukraine" — and dangled "serious money for serious work." According to prosecutors, Durruthy also coordinated an attack in Czechia in June 2024 and another in Lithuania in September 2024, and the network conducted operations against civilian and military targets in European allies of Ukraine. Poland, Germany and Czechia have each accused Russia of conducting sabotage attacks on their soil in recent years.
Moscow's covert war is widening
The unsealed charges confirm what Ukraine's partners have long suspected: the Kremlin is waging a shadow war far beyond the front lines in Ukraine, targeting dissidents, infrastructure and civilian life across Europe and now the United States itself. As U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York put it: "We will not tolerate efforts to finance terrorist activities and engage in acts of violence — particularly when these activities are commissioned by state actors and touch American soil."
The case strips away the last pretence that Russia's aggression stops at Ukraine's borders. Moscow's intelligence services are hunting enemies of the regime in Western capitals — and the countries standing with Ukraine are paying the price for that solidarity. The West's response, prosecutors made clear, will now come not just with sanctions and air defence, but with handcuffs.
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