<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/department-of-justice/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Department of Justice</a> announced charges against five <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/russia/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Russian</a> agents who are still at large for allegedly contracting for <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/surveillance/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">surveillance</a> and murder-for-hire plots around the world, including in the United States.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The individuals are alleged to work for Russian <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/intelligence/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">intelligence</a> services and have been conspiring and conducting attacks against defectors and allies of <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/ukraine/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ukraine</a> since 2024. Prosecutors stated that the alleged agents have attempted to recruit individuals in the U.S. to carry out surveillance operations.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Attorney General <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/todd-blanche/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Todd Blanche</a> stated, “It is our job to stop America’s adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil. And that’s precisely what we are doing thanks to the work of the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/fbi/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FBI</a> and our Justice Department prosecutors.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/members-russian-intelligence-services-network-charged-conspiring-finance-terrorism-and" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The five defendants</a> are Yuri Khrameev, 63, and his son, Kirill Khrameev, 27, both from Russia; Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35, and Yaidel Delgado Suarez, 35, both from Cuba; and Angel Eduardo Castro, 22, from Venezuela.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Prosecutors described Yuri Khrameev as a former colonel in Russian intelligence and his son as an officer in Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB. The DOJ alleges all five worked as part of a Russian intelligence network that has targeted dissidents, defectors, and countries viewed as supporting Ukraine since at least 2024.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The group’s alleged efforts reached the U.S. this summer when Suarez recruited a U.S.-based individual to surveil a prominent Russian dissident, according to prosecutors. Suarez allegedly provided two locations connected to the target and offered between $1,000 and $1,500 for surveillance.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The individual subsequently provided photographs and videos of locations connected to the intended victim, according to the indictment. Suarez and Castro then allegedly offered the individual $40,000 to “eliminate” or “disappear” the dissident, which the individual declined.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Prosecutors allege the network separately sought to have a U.S. citizen kill a person in Lithuania last year. Yuri Khrameev allegedly offered approximately $25,000 for that killing after his son initially recruited the individual to photograph the intended victim’s home.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The network is further accused of coordinating attacks against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries supporting Ukraine, including operations in the Czech Republic and Lithuania.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">All five defendants are charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism. Yuri Khrameev, Suarez, and Castro also face conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire charges carrying up to 10 years.</p>