US Indicts Five Russian Intelligence Operatives Over Assassination Plots in Washington and Vilnius

Federal indictment and network structure

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unsealed charges against five individuals linked to the Russian Intelligence Services (RIS). The group, active since at least 2024, organized assassination plots, surveillance, and sabotage across Europe and the United States according to the indictment. Three individuals are identified by the Department of Justice as senior figures in the network: 63-year-old Yuri Khrameev, a former intelligence colonel and Chechen war veteran; his 27-year-old son Kirill Khrameev, an officer in the Federal Security Service (FSB); and 35-year-old Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a Cuban national residing in Russia who coordinated operations. Two additional defendants, 35-year-old Cuban national Yaidel Delgado Suarez and 22-year-old Venezuelan national Angel Eduardo Castro, acted as recruiters. All five suspects remain at large, facing charges of conspiracy to finance terrorism that carry prison sentences of up to 20 years.

It is our job to stop America's adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil.

The Washington and Vilnius assassination plots

According to court documents, the network's most recent plot unfolded during the summer of 2026 in the United States. Recruiters targeted a prominent Russian dissident residing in the Washington area, using Latin American intermediaries based in Russia and the United States. In late July 2026, Castro and Suarez enlisted an operative in Brooklyn, paying between $1,000 and $1,500 to conduct surveillance at two separate locations associated with the target. The recruiters then offered $40,000 to eliminate the dissident, but the recruit refused to carry out the killing, forcing the organizers to search for other hitmen.

The failed contract in the United States followed an earlier attempt in Lithuania in 2025. In that case, Yuri Khrameev offered $25,000 to a US citizen to track and murder a Russian opposition leader in Vilnius who was accused of spreading lies about Russia. Kirill Khrameev met with a prospective participant at the Ivangorod border crossing between Russia and Estonia. That operation also collapsed when the recruit declined to carry out the killing. Beyond targeted killings, prosecutors stated that the network sought to organize arson and sabotage against infrastructure in European nations that support Ukraine.

Operational methods and international reactions

Investigators detailed that the Russian intelligence apparatus outsourced violent tasks through commercialized chains of intermediaries rather than relying strictly on traditional undercover officers. The organizers recruited foreign nationals and provided explicit instructions for reconnaissance before proposing murder contracts. Russian intelligence expert Christo Grozev described the mechanism as an assassination market funded by Moscow investors, breaking long-standing conventions regarding covert actions inside the United States.

With all respect to The Americans, there has always been an unwritten rule among the Russians not to conduct assassinations on someone else's territory. Clearly the old rules no longer apply.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the Russian government would not comment on the allegations until presented with credible evidence and tangible facts. The five indicted individuals remain wanted by federal law enforcement.