US exposes five Russian agents who planned killings and terrorist attacks

US Attorney General Todd Blanche has said that the Department of Justice has brought charges against five members of a Russian intelligence network who were recruiting people to carry out terrorist attacks in European countries and plotting the killing of a Russian dissident in the United States.

Source: US Department of Justice press release; ABC News

Quote from Blanche: "It is our job to stop America's adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil. And that's precisely what we are doing thanks to the work of the FBI and our Justice Department prosecutors."

Details: Blanche said that the suspects had worked for Russian intelligence and planned a series of assassinations around the world.

In particular, the group was preparing an attack on a "Russian dissident" whom they believed was in Washington.

The case is being heard in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Update: According to the unsealed indictment, the Russian agents have been working for Russian intelligence services since at least 2024 and specialised in organising contract killings and terrorist attacks.

"The RIS Network is one arm of the Russian Federation's apparatus to carry out external attacks, including murder, and has focused on Russian dissidents and defectors and, most recently, on nations perceived as allies of Ukraine," the department said.

Investigators consider the leaders of the intelligence network to be 63-year-old former Russian intelligence colonel Yuri Khramyeev and his 27-year-old son, Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Kirill Khramyeev. The leadership also included 35-year-old Cuban national Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, who lives in Russia.

The other two defendants, 35-year-old Cuban national Yaidel Delgado Suarez and 22-year-old Venezuelan national Angel Eduardo Castro, were tasked with finding and recruiting potential operatives in the US.

"These defendants allegedly operated as part of a global assassination network that reached into the United States, attempting to recruit US citizens and foreigners to carry out killings at the behest of the Kremlin," said John Eisenberg, US Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

According to investigators, in summer 2026, Russian agents recruited a US resident to conduct surveillance and arrange the murder of a prominent Russian dissident, offering US$1,000 to US$1,500 for surveillance and US$40,000 for the killing. After the recruit refused to carry out the assassination personally, his handlers asked whether he could find other people to do the job.

In addition, last year the network recruited a US citizen in Lithuania to conduct surveillance on a person whom the Russians called a "bad guy" who was "telling lies" about Russia. Later, Colonel Yuri Khramyeev offered the American US$25,000 to kill the Russian dissident by "throwing a bottle of gasoline" or "sticking a knife" in him.

After the refusal, Khramyeev senior offered the American a "simpler job", involving setting fire to food warehouses or throwing incendiary mixtures at electrical substations. The Russian intelligence officer stressed that their targets were "all the countries that are helping Ukraine" and promised "serious money".

The investigation also established that in June 2024, Durruthy, a Cuban national, coordinated preparations for an attack in the Czech capital Prague, and in September of the same year for another terrorist attack in Lithuania.

"The Russian-led network charged in today's indictment is brazen, aggressive, and far-reaching, and the charges levied against the defendants should send a clear message: no matter where you are, and no matter who you work for, we will investigate and prosecute you for your crimes," said Jamie McDonald, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

All five suspects are currently at large. The defendants are charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, while three of them are also charged with conspiracy to commit murder for hire, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Background:

• Western countries have repeatedly documented the activity of Russian assassins on their territory. The best-known incidents include the poisoning of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 as well as the attempted assassination in 2018 of former Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU) agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in the UK using the "Novichok" chemical agent.
• In August 2019, Russian officer Vadim Krasikov shot and killed former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin.
• The US Department of Justice regularly initiates criminal cases against Russian nationals over cybercrime, espionage and sanctions evasion. However, the exposure of plans to physically eliminate dissidents directly on US soil indicates a significant escalation in the activities of Russian intelligence services.

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