The prosecutor’s office in New York has filed charges against a group of people whom investigators believe are linked to Russian intelligence and to recruiting operatives for sabotage at civilian and military infrastructure sites in Europe. U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said this at a briefing at the White House.
According to declassified materials from the U.S. Department of Justice, this summer the group recruited a person to kill a well-known Russian opposition figure living in the US. In the department’s documents, he is referred to as “Victim-1”, and the killer was promised $40,000 for the murder.
Last year, the same people were looking for a killer to murder another Russian opposition figure in Lithuania, referred to in the materials as “Victim-2”. Investigators also claim that in 2024 members of the group coordinated preparations for sabotage in Prague and another terrorist attack in Lithuania.
Investigators believe the leaders of the agent network were 63-year-old former colonel of Russian security services Yuri Khrameev and his son, 27-year-old FSB officer Kirill Khrameev. The leadership team, according to the prosecution, also included 35-year-old Cuban citizen Oemis Romagos Durruti, who lives in Russia.
According to the U.S. authorities, the group also included 35-year-old Cuban national Yaidel Delgado Suarez and 22-year-old Venezuelan citizen Angel Eduardo Castro. U.S. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said the defendants acted as part of a global network of contract killers that reached the borders of the US and tried to recruit U.S. citizens and foreigners for murders at the Kremlin’s direction.
All five suspects are at large. They are charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism, which carries up to 20 years in prison, and Yuri Khrameev, Suarez, and Castro are also charged with conspiracy to commit murder for hire, which carries up to 10 years in prison.
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