Five defendants have been charged by federal prosecutors in connection with alleged operations directed by Russian intelligence services, according to an indictment released by the Department of Justice. The defendants include Yuri Khrameev, a 63-year-old Russian national; his 27-year-old son Kirill Khrameev; two Cuban nationals in their mid-thirties, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy and Yaidel Delgado Suarez; and Angel Eduardo Castro, a 22-year-old Venezuelan. All five individuals remain at large, according to prosecutors.
The charges allege that the network was organized to execute attacks and killings on an international scale, with some operations directed at targets within the United States. Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the schemes included plans to assassinate a Russian dissident residing in the Washington, DC area. According to Justice Department officials, the group worked to recruit several individuals within the US to conduct surveillance operations against Russian dissidents and opposition figures, with targeting efforts extending to Lithuania.
Prosecutors alleged that financial incentives were offered to recruit participants in the planned operations. In one reported case, a potential operative was offered $40,000 to cause a US-based target to “disappear.” Another individual was said to have been offered $25,000 the previous year to carry out a killing in Lithuania. All five defendants face charges related to conspiracy to finance terrorism, while three of the accused—Khrameev, Suarez, and Castro—face additional charges of conspiring to commit murder for hire.
Russia’s embassy in the United States has not issued a public response to the charges. The Russian government has historically disputed claims that it has authorized or conducted targeted killing operations on foreign territory, including within the US.
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