The US Department of Justice has charged five men accused of working with a Russian intelligence-linked network to recruit operatives for attacks and killings targeting people perceived to support Ukraine in the US and Europe.
US prosecutors allege that members of the network, known as RIS, offered money to individuals in the US and other countries for surveillance, and to threaten or attack designated targets.
“It is our job to stop America’s adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil,” US Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
All five defendants have been charged with conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism, an offence carrying a potential sentence of up to 20 years. Three also face charges relating to conspiracy to commit murder for hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
The defendants remain at large and their current locations are unknown.
According to the Justice Department, three of the men are senior figures in the RIS network. They include Yuri Khrameev, 63, whom US authorities identify as a former colonel in Russian intelligence, and his 27-year-old son Kirill Khrameev, who investigators say served as an officer in Russia’s Federal Security Service.
The third is Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a 35-year-old Cuban national living in Russia whom US authorities describe as an influential member of the Cuban diaspora who coordinated operations for the network.
The remaining defendants, Yaidel Delgado Suarez, 35, and Angel Eduardo Castro, 22, are accused of recruiting or attempting to recruit people in the US.
FBI representative James Barnacle said the defendants conspired to intimidate, threaten or kill people in the US and elsewhere.
In one case alleged by prosecutors, Suarez recruited a person in the US to conduct surveillance on a Russian dissident and offered between $1,000 and $1,500 for the operation. Investigators allege that Suarez and Castro later offered $40,000 to “eliminate” the dissident.
The alleged killing did not take place, and prosecutors say Suarez subsequently sought other people to carry out attacks.
US investigators also allege that Kirill Khrameev recruited a US citizen in 2025 for surveillance to kill a person in Lithuania who had disseminated information about Russia that Moscow considered false.
According to the case materials, Khrameev said he intended to target “all the countries that are helping Ukraine”.
Prosecutors allege that his father offered $25,000 for the killing.
The cases come amid growing Western concern over Russian espionage, sabotage and assassination operations beyond Ukraine. European governments have reported alleged attempts to target critical infrastructure and defence-related organisations, while Britain has separately warned of the risk of assassination attempts involving chemical substances.
The US charges provide a rare public account of how investigators allege Russia-linked networks seek to outsource operations to recruited individuals, potentially creating deniability between intelligence services and those carrying out attacks.
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