The United States has charged two Russian nationals, two Cubans, and one Venezuelan with working for Russian intelligence to prepare assassination attempts in America and Europe, including the murder of Russian dissidents, the U.S. Department of Justice stated in a press release. As The Insider notes, this marks the first documented attempt by Russian intelligence to kill on U.S. soil. Besides the planned killings, for which operatives were offered up to $40,000, the agents recruited people to carry out sabotage in “all the countries that are helping Ukraine.”
The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed charges against five individuals whom investigators believe worked for Russian intelligence. They are Yuri Khrameev, 63, a former colonel in the Russian intelligence services; his son Kirill Khrameev, 27, an FSB officer; Cuban national Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35; Cuban Yaidel Delgado Suarez, 35, known as Viking; and Venezuelan national Angel Eduardo Castro, 22. Commenting on the case, Attorney General Todd Blanche said:
“It is our job to stop America’s adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil.”
According to Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg, the perpetrators attempted to “recruit U.S. citizens and foreigners to carry out killings at the behest of the Kremlin.” Over the summer, the network recruited a U.S. resident to surveil a well-known Russian dissident, identified in the published documents as “Victim-1.” Suarez promised the recruit between $1,000 and $1,500 to take photographs and video of locations associated with the potential victim. After the assignment was completed, the recruit was offered $40,000 to kill the dissident. When the U.S. resident declined to carry out the killing himself, he was asked to recommend “someone [who] can do the work.”
As The Insider found, Russian intelligence deliberately used Cubans and Venezuelans living in Russia to recruit a Venezuelan living in the United States. Angel Eduardo Castro, who had previously played baseball in Venezuela, served as the go-between.
In late July, Castro contacted a fellow countryman living in the U.S. and instructed him to surveil a Russian dissident in Washington. They communicated in code: the surveillance assignment referred to the need to “measure the plot of land and provide the measurements,” while the killing itself was called “construction.”
The same network, the U.S. Department of Justice notes, recruited a U.S. citizen in 2025 to surveil another Russian dissident — “Victim-2,” who lived in Lithuania. In that episode, the father and son Khrameev played the leading role. The younger Khrameev asked the recruit to take photographs at the potential victim’s address, and the elder Khrameev offered him $25,000 to carry out the murder. The Justice Department’s statement describes:
“Yuri Khrameev further told U.S. Citizen-1 that they wanted Victim-2 dead because he was ‘spreading dirt about my country’ and ‘distorting history.’ Yuri Khrameev then sent U.S. Citizen-1 a photograph of Victim-2 and described that he could be murdered by ‘throwing a bottle of gasoline’ or ‘sticking a knife’ in him. After U.S. Citizen-1 declined to carry out the murder, Yuri Khrameev offered to give him a ‘simpler job’ which could include ‘set[ting] fire to a warehouse of property or food’ or ‘throw[ing] a bottle of gasoline at an electrical substation.’ Yuri Khrameev made clear to U.S. Citizen-1 that the purpose was to target ‘all the countries that are helping Ukraine’ and that he was offering ‘serious money for serious work.’ Finally, Yuri Khrameev confirmed that he was a ‘colonel of Russian intelligence agencies.’”
The Justice Department notes that the network likely recruited other individuals to carry out acts of sabotage in Europe. According to the department, Cuban national Durruthy coordinated an attack in Czechia in June 2024 and another in Lithuania in September 2024.
All five individuals have been charged with participating in a conspiracy to finance terrorism. Yuri Khrameev, Suarez, and Castro are also charged with conspiracy to commit murder for hire. The first charge carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison, the second up to 10 years. All of them remain at large.
