Kremlin implicated in murder-for-hire plot against dissident in Washington
The Kremlin orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot against a prominent Russian dissident in Washington, D.C., this summer, the Department of Justice has said, as it unsealed charges against five people it alleged were part of a “global assassination network” aimed at causing “destruction and mayhem around the world,” reports BritPanorama.
The five individuals charged are still at large, according to the DOJ, which described the wider operation being coordinated by Russian intelligence as “brazen, aggressive, and far-reaching.” The FBI claimed to have disrupted the plot, although officials did not elaborate on the methods used.
Since at least 2024, the network is said to have paid individuals both in the U.S. and abroad to spy on targets, “carry out targeted killings,” and “commit acts of terrorism against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries perceived to be aligned with Ukraine,” according to the DOJ.
Asked for a response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated, “until we have heard or seen any reasonable evidence and arguments based on at least something tangible, we do not consider it necessary to comment on this news.”
Russia has long been accused by Western governments of carrying out assassination attempts abroad. Despite substantial evidence to the contrary, the Kremlin consistently denies these allegations.
The indictment does not specify the intended victim in Washington but lists the defendants as Yuri Khrameev, known as “Colonel Yuri,” 63, and his son Kirill Khrameev, 27, both of Russia; Oemis Romagoza Durruthy and Yaidel Delgado Suarez, known as “Viking,” both 35 and from Cuba; and Angel Eduardo Castro, 22, of Venezuela.
The indictment describes Durruthy as “an influential member of the Cuban diaspora living in Russia,” while stating that Suarez and Castro also reside there.
All defendants face conspiracy to finance terrorism charges, with Yuri Khrameev, Suarez, and Castro facing an additional charge of conspiracy to commit murder for hire. Yuri Khrameev is alleged to be a former Russian intelligence colonel, while his son serves as an officer in Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB.
Prosecutors allege the network recruited a Venezuelan citizen residing in Brooklyn this summer, offering $1,000 to $1,500 to surveil two locations associated with the intended target. The individual completed the surveillance but declined an offer of $40,000 from Suarez and Castro to “eliminate” the target.
Moreover, Suarez is alleged to have offered significant sums to others in the U.S. to complete the assignment. The indictment includes messages where conspirators referred to murder as “construction,” with instructions for surveillance that involved putting the man’s phone into airplane mode.
A second alleged plot involved a dissident in Lithuania, accused of making disparaging comments about Russia. In this case, a U.S. citizen was promised $200 to photograph the target’s address in 2025 but turned down an offer of approximately $25,000 to kill him. Instead, Yuri Khrameev reportedly proposed a “simpler job” that involved arson or attacking an electricity substation, stating the aim was to target “all the countries that are helping Ukraine.”
Durruthy is accused of coordinating logistics for attacks in Prague in June 2024 and in Lithuania that September. Lithuanian authorities had previously identified Durruthy as wanted in a case involving attempts to incinerate military equipment intended for Ukraine, as reported by Lithuanian broadcaster LRT.
“These defendants allegedly operated as part of a global assassination network that reached into the United States, attempting to recruit U.S. citizens and foreigners to carry out killings at the behest of the Kremlin,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Actions like these represent a gross violation of our sovereignty and a threat to our national security.”
James C. Barnacle Jr., head of New York’s FBI office, noted that the agency “disrupted this operation through relentless work and rock-solid partnership.”
