Justice Department Charges Five in Alleged Russian-Backed Murder Plots

The U.S. Justice Department charged five suspected Russian intelligence operatives with allegedly plotting attacks against perceived enemies of the Kremlin around the world.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed the indictment on Sept. 16. The indictment describes the defendants' network as "one arm of the Russian Federation's apparatus used to carry out external attacks, including murder, around the world," according to the charges outlined by prosecutors NPR.

The defendants are Yuri Khrameev, 63, a former colonel in a Russian intelligence service; his son Kirill Khrameev, 27, described as a suspected officer in Russia's FSB; Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35, and Yaidel Delgado Suarez, both from Cuba; and Angel Eduardo Castro, from Venezuela Reuters. Prosecutors said Durruthy, Suarez and Castro all live in Russia. Department of Justice records identify Yuri Khrameev as "Colonel Yuri" and Suarez as "Viking" Justice Department.

All five remain at large.

All five defendants are charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism. Yuri Khrameev, Suarez and Castro face an additional count of murder-for-hire conspiracy. The charges are conspiracy allegations. Prosecutors have not said any of the alleged murders were carried out.

The U.S.-based allegation centers on a prominent Russian dissident in the United States. Between July and August 2026, prosecutors said, the network recruited a Venezuelan citizen living in Brooklyn, identified in court papers only as U.S. Resident 1, to surveil and kill the dissident.

Castro and Suarez communicated with U.S. Resident 1 over an encrypted messaging app, prosecutors said. They allegedly provided two addresses associated with the dissident and gave instructions for taking photos and videos of the locations. Suarez allegedly offered $40,000 to have the dissident eliminated.

U.S. Resident 1 said he was willing to take photos and videos but would not commit murder, according to the indictment. Prosecutors allege Suarez then asked whether he knew someone who wanted to do construction work. Prosecutors said that language was code for carrying out the murder.

The indictment also alleges operations outside the United States. Prosecutors said the network conducted operations against civilian and military targets in European countries allied with Ukraine. The court papers do not identify the targets by name in the summaries released to date.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said "it is the Justice Department's job to stop America's adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil."

The broader context here is the charging structure and the venue. Southern District of New York prosecutors paired a terrorism-financing conspiracy count applicable to all five defendants with a narrower murder-for-hire conspiracy count against three. For practitioners who handle transnational cases, that split matters. It allows prosecutors to allege a common financial and logistical enterprise while tying the most serious violent-act allegation to specific communications, specific payments, and a specific intended victim in the United States. The reliance on a U.S.-based recruit who allegedly declined to kill, coupled with encrypted messages, addresses, and surveillance instructions, gives the government a domestic nexus for conduct it says was directed from Russia. Extraterritorial enforcement will now turn on cooperation, sanctions, and any future custody, since none of the defendants is in U.S. custody.