FBI charges five over Russian plot to kill pro-Ukraine figures
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Russia attempted to assassinate Ukrainian allies (Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev/File Photo)
The FBI has charged five individuals after uncovering a plot by Russian intelligence services to assassinate pro-Ukraine activists in the United States and Europe, BBC Russian reported on September 16.
The indictment states that the network recruited operatives to surveil and assassinate Russian opposition figures, as well as sabotage civilian and military infrastructure.
Russian intelligence services recruited an individual in the summer of 2026 to assassinate a prominent Russian opposition figure living in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Federal prosecutors did not name the target, referring to the person only as Victim-1 in court documents.
The network offered a $40,000 payout to carry out the murder. Court documents also reveal that last year, the same Russian network sought a hitman to assassinate another unnamed Russian opposition figure living in Lithuania, who is identified in the indictment as Victim-2.
The FBI has named five suspects in the case, including 63-year-old Yuri Khrameev, a former Russian intelligence colonel, and his 27-year-old son, Kirill Khrameev, an officer in Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a Cuban national living in Russia, helped recruit assets for the network to carry out murders and sabotage. Prosecutors also charged two other members of the ring: Yaidel Delgado Suarez of Cuba and Angel Eduardo Castro of Venezuela.
All five suspects face charges of conspiracy to finance terrorism, according to federal prosecutors. Additionally, Yuri Khrameev, Suárez, and Castro are charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.
Head of New York’s FBI office James Barnacle Jr. said the FBI disrupted the plans “through relentless work” as members of the Russian intelligence services and their affiliates “conspired to intimidate, threaten, or murder people on U.S. soil and around the world,” according to The Guardian.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on September 16 that the Justice Department filed criminal charges against multiple foreign nationals linked to Russian intelligence agencies.
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