U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche stated that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed charges against several Russian citizens whom U.S. authorities associate with Russian intelligence services.
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The indictment revealed in the Manhattan federal court states that the intelligence network paid or offered compensation to individuals in the United States and other countries for monitoring people on the “blacklist,” planning to later kill them.
The indictment also states that individuals included in the network were urged to carry out terrorist acts against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries considered favorable to Ukraine.
James Barnacle Jr., head of the New York FBI office, said his agency disrupted these plans “due to persistent work,” when members of Russian intelligence services and their accomplices “conspired to intimidate, threaten, or kill people on U.S. territory and worldwide.”
Darren Cox, head of the FBI Washington office, emphasized the extraordinary work of many FBI local offices, divisions, and partner agencies, whose joint efforts managed to thwart Russian attempts to carry out violent acts in the U.S. capital and across the country.
According to him, when the threat was first identified, the FBI Washington office and its partners “quickly took action to disrupt the conspiracy and hold the Russian government accountable for its actions.”
According to reports, the network of individuals working for Russian intelligence services has been organizing conspiracies and carrying out attacks and assassinations worldwide, including in the United States, at least since 2024.
The indictment names the Russian intelligence network as “one of the branches of the Russian Federation apparatus,” tasked with carrying out external attacks, including assassinations, worldwide.
As stated, the network previously focused mainly on Russian dissidents and refugees, but recently its targets have been countries considered partners of Ukraine.
$40,000 for a murder
Very recently, according to the report, network members tried to recruit several people in the United States.
Authorities indicated that this summer the agent network recruited a person living in the United States to monitor and kill a well-known Russian dissident believed to be residing in the United States.
The indictment states that the person, identified only as “U.S. resident-1,” was sent to two locations related to the future victim and received “clear instructions on how to conduct surveillance,” and was promised $1,000 and $1,500 for this work.
After conducting surveillance and providing one of the men named in the indictment with numerous photos and videos from locations related to the chosen victim, the U.S. resident allegedly refused $40,000 offered for the victim to be “eliminated” or “disappeared” by killing.
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The indictment states that when the offer was rejected, the intelligence officer who made it tried to involve several other people in the United States in this work, offering them large sums of money.
Lithuania also mentioned
As stated in the indictment, last year individuals associated with Russian intelligence services approached a U.S. citizen (“U.S. citizen-1”) to monitor and kill a person in Lithuania (“Victim-2”), whom the agents described as a “wrongdoer” spreading “lies about Russia.”
One of the accused persuaded “U.S. citizen-1” to go to the alleged “Victim-2” location and take photos. When “U.S. citizen-1” agreed and completed the task in exchange for the promised $200, the accused introduced “U.S. citizen-1” to a person described as his “boss” and “colonel.” He was later identified as Yuri Khramiev.
The U.S. citizen was offered $25,000 for the murder of “Victim-2.” Khramiev emphasized to the recruit that they want “Victim-2” to die because he “spreads slander about my country” and “distorts history.”
He then sent “U.S. citizen-1” a photo of “Victim-2” and explained that he could be killed “by dousing with gasoline” or “stabbing with a knife.”
When the recruit refused to carry out the murder, Khramiev instead offered him a “simpler job,” which could include “setting fire to property or a food warehouse” or “throwing a bottle with gasoline at an electrical substation.”
As stated in the indictment, Khramiev clearly told “U.S. citizen-1” that the goal is to strike “all countries that help Ukraine,” and that he offers “serious money for serious work.”
What the FBI is looking for
“These defendants are suspected of acting as part of a global assassination network reaching the United States, attempting to recruit U.S. citizens and foreigners to carry out assassinations on behalf of the Kremlin,” said John Eisenberg, U.S. Deputy Attorney General for National Security.
The FBI announced that five individuals are suspected in this case. They are 63-year-old Khramiev, a former Russian special services colonel, as well as his 27-year-old son Kirill Khramiev, an officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
It is noted that a Cuban citizen living in Russia, Oemis Romagosa Durrutis, was also involved in recruiting citizens for assassinations and sabotage. Two other network members charged are Cuban Jaidel Delgado Suarez and Venezuelan Anhelis Eduardo Castro.
The charges include conspiracy to finance terrorism, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Khramiev, Y.D. Suarez, and A.E. Castro are also charged with conspiracy to commit contract murder – punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.
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