U.S. Accuses Russian Intelligence of Murder-for-Hire Plot in Washington, D.C.

<p>The U.S. government has accused Russian intelligence operatives of orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot targeting a Kremlin critic believed to be living in Washington, D.C. In documents unsealed on September 16, 2026, federal prosecutors claim the conspiracy is part of a broader global network that recruited individuals to carry out assassinations and terrorist attacks on behalf of Moscow.</p><p>Five men have been charged in connection with the incitement, allegedly working for Russia's intelligence services, and are accused of attempting to pay others in the U.S. and abroad to surveil and kill Russian dissidents. Three of the defendants face conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire charges. All five defendants remain at large, according to the Justice Department.</p><p>The alleged operation reportedly reached Washington, D.C. in late August, when suspected Russian intelligence operatives directed a U.S.-based Venezuelan citizen to secretly film two locations associated with a Kremlin critic before allegedly offering him $40,000 to carry out the killing. The recruit completed the surveillance but declined to commit the murder, according to the indictment.</p><p>Prosecutors allege that the five defendants were members or associates of a Russian intelligence-directed network that financed terrorism and coordinated violent operations across multiple countries. The recruiter guided the operative through the surveillance process, instructing him to put his phone in airplane mode, begin recording before entering the neighborhood, slow down as he passed the target's home, and delete messages afterward.</p><p>The indictment states that the conspirators used coded language, referring to the assassination as "construction" and the surveillance as "measuring a plot of land." When the recruit declined to carry out the murder, prosecutors allege that the network sought other U.S.-based recruits and noted it had "people in Mexico" available for the job.</p><p>In addition to the alleged murder plot in Washington, the indictment accuses members of the network of supporting attacks on civilian and military infrastructure in Europe and conducting surveillance of Russian dissidents abroad. This case marks one of the most serious publicly alleged Russian intelligence operations targeting an individual inside the U.S. in recent years.</p><p>The indictment names five alleged members of what prosecutors refer to as the Russian Intelligence Services Network (RIS): Yuri Khrameev, a former Russian intelligence colonel known as "Colonel Yuri"; his son, Kirill Khrameev, an officer in Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB); Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a Cuban national living in Russia described as coordinating attacks for the network; Yaidel Delgado Suarez, known as "Viking"; and Angel Eduardo Castro.</p><p>Russia has been repeatedly accused by Western governments of targeting political opponents and defectors abroad. Among the notable cases was the 2018 poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England, with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok, which British authorities attributed to Russian military intelligence, an allegation Moscow denied.</p><p>U.S. officials have also accused Russia of orchestrating killings of Kremlin critics overseas and conducting covert influence and espionage operations within the United States. However, prosecutors indicate that the alleged Washington murder plot represents a rare instance where Russian operatives sought to recruit someone on U.S. soil for an assassination.</p><p>Prosecutors assert that the alleged Washington murder plot is part of a broader Russian intelligence campaign that has been active since at least 2024. The indictment claims that the same network recruited a U.S. citizen in Lithuania to surveil another Kremlin critic before allegedly offering approximately $25,000 to kill him. After that recruit refused, the network reportedly shifted to soliciting sabotage attacks against infrastructure in countries supporting Ukraine, including alleged plots targeting electrical substations, warehouses, and transportation hubs.</p><p>The indictment emerges as Western governments have warned that Russia has expanded its use of covert operations, sabotage, and assassination plots beyond the battlefield since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. U.S. prosecutors allege that the network has shifted its focus from targeting Russian dissidents and defectors to attacking countries perceived to be aligned with Ukraine.</p>