US charges five in alleged Russian assassination plots

The US Department of Justice announced charges on September 15 against five alleged agents for Russian intelligence accused of conspiring to carry out attacks and murders around the world, including in the United States.

The department said the group had been active since at least 2024 and tried this summer to have a “prominent Russian dissident” believed to be living in the United States killed. The target was not named.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said the suspects allegedly operated as part of “a global assassination network that reached into the United States” and tried to recruit US citizens and foreigners to carry out killings on the Kremlin's orders.

The three main suspects were identified as Yuri Khrameev, a 63-year-old former colonel in the Russian intelligence services, his son Kirill Khrameev, 27, and Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a 35-year-old Cuban. The other two suspects, Yaidel Delgado Suarez of Cuba and Angel Eduardo Castro of Venezuela, were allegedly recruiting agents in the United States.

All five suspects remain at large. The Justice Department said the attempted murder of the Russian dissident failed after a man recruited to conduct surveillance refused to carry out the killing, for which he had been offered $40,000. It said a 2025 murder plot against a target in Lithuania failed for the same reason.