US Accuses Russian Intelligence of Plotting Murders of Ukraine Allies
The Justice Department unsealed charges against five men allegedly linked to Russian intelligence services for conspiracies to commit murder in the US and abroad.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges Tuesday against five men accused of plotting to murder individuals aligned with Ukraine, both within the United States and in Europe. The men are allegedly connected to Russian Intelligence Services (RIS).
"It is our job to stop America's adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil," said Attorney General Todd Blanche. All five defendants remain at large, and their current locations are unknown.
The DOJ stated that the accused are charged with participating in a conspiracy to finance terrorism, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Three of the defendants are described as high-ranking members of the RIS network.
These individuals include Yuri Khrameev, 63, and his son Kirill Khrameev, 27. The elder Khrameev is identified as a colonel in Russian intelligence services, while his son is an officer in Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). The third high-ranking suspect is Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a 35-year-old Cuban national described by U.S. authorities as an influential member of the Cuban diaspora living in Russia who has coordinated attacks for RIS.
The other two defendants are Yaidel Delgado Suarez, 35, and Angel Eduardo Castro, 22. They are accused of recruiting or attempting to recruit individuals in the U.S. to surveil and potentially murder a prominent Russian dissident residing in the United States. According to the DOJ, Suarez allegedly provided surveillance instructions to a recruit and offered between $1,000 and $1,500 for the task. Suarez and Castro are also said to have offered an additional $40,000 if the U.S. resident could eliminate the dissident. The DOJ noted that the recruit did not proceed, leading Suarez to seek out other individuals in the U.S. for similar tasks.
Further accusations detail attempts to recruit individuals to kill those perceived as threats to Russia. In 2025, Kirill Khrameev allegedly recruited a U.S. citizen to surveil and murder someone in Lithuania who was allegedly criticizing Russia. His father, Yuri Khrameev, reportedly offered the recruit $25,000 to carry out the killing, citing the target's perceived "spreading dirt about my country" and "distorting history."
Yuri Khrameev, Suarez, and Castro also face charges of participating in a conspiracy to commit murder for hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years if convicted.
This development follows recent incidents where authorities have thwarted similar threats. Last month, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the detention of an individual allegedly working for the Kremlin who was plotting to murder an American-Ukrainian citizen in Warsaw. Tusk suggested that the "Putin regime will try to eliminate people who are inconvenient for various reasons."
In early 2024, German authorities were reportedly warned by U.S. intelligence of a Russian plot to kill Armin Papperger, the CEO of Rheinmetall, Germany's largest arms manufacturer. Moscow dismissed those accusations at the time as "another fake story."