Federal authorities say they have disrupted a Russian intelligence plot to assassinate a prominent dissident believed to be living in Washington, DC.
Five people, all assumed to be living abroad, were charged in the conspiracy according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. The document alleges that a network of Russian intelligence operatives has been paying individuals in the United States and other countries since 2024 to surveil and ultimately kill Russian dissidents.
The scheme extended beyond targeted killings. Associates recruited by the network were also solicited to carry out acts of terrorism against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries perceived to be aligned with Ukraine, the indictment said.
James C. Barnacle Jr., head of New York’s FBI office, said the agency disrupted the plans “through relentless work” as members of the intelligence services and their affiliates “conspired to intimidate, threaten, or murder people on US soil and around the world.”
Darren B. Cox, head of the Washington, DC, FBI office, cited “extraordinary work by multiple FBI field offices, components, and partner agencies” in a release, adding that investigators “moved quickly to disrupt the plot.”
According to the release, the network had operated since at least 2024 and had already conducted attacks and murders around the world, including within the United States. The group’s focus shifted after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, expanding from Russian dissidents and defectors to include nations perceived as Ukraine allies.
Three high-ranking members of Russian intelligence services were named among the charged. Yuri Khrameev, a former colonel in Russian intelligence, and his son Kirill Khrameev, an officer in Russia’s Federal Security Service, were identified alongside Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a Cuban national described as an influential member of the Cuban diaspora living in Russia.
The Federal Security Service is Russia’s principal security agency and successor to the Soviet Union’s KGB, the indictment noted.
Yuri Khrameev and two others charged — Yaidel Delgado Suarez and Angel Eduardo Castro, both living in Russia — recruited a Venezuelan citizen residing in Brooklyn to surveil and murder the targeted dissident in Washington, the indictment said.
The Brooklyn resident was dispatched to two locations associated with the intended victim and given “explicit instructions on how to conduct surveillance,” with promises of $1,000 to $1,500 for the work. After completing the surveillance and providing multiple photographs and videos of locations tied to the target, the US resident was offered $40,000 to “eliminate” or “disappear” the dissident through murder.
The recruit rejected the killing offer, authorities said. When that happened, the intelligence services member who made it turned to multiple other people within the United States, offering substantial sums to finish the job.
US Attorney Jamie McDonald said in the release that those charged “conspired to cause destruction and mayhem around the world, including right here in the United States.”
The case represents one of the most brazen alleged Russian intelligence operations on American soil in recent years, with operatives attempting to outsource political violence to paid recruits within the country itself.
The network’s activities illustrate an expansion of Russian targeting since the Ukraine invasion, with European nations supporting Kyiv now also in the crosshairs for potential terrorist attacks on infrastructure.
The indictment was unsealed as federal authorities continue investigating the full scope of the network’s US-based recruitment efforts and its broader campaign against Ukraine allies.