US announces charges against five alleged agents for Russia over assassination plots

The US Department of Justice announced charges Tuesday against five alleged agents for Russian intelligence accused of conspiring to carry out attacks and murders around the world, including in the United States.

The group, which has been active since at least 2024, attempted to have a "prominent Russian dissident" believed to be living in the US murdered this summer, the department said in a statement, without naming the target.

Its members allegedly operated as part of "a global assassination network that reached into the United States", Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said.

They attempted to recruit US citizens and foreigners to carry out killings on the Kremlin's orders, Eisenberg said.

According to the statement, the three main suspects are Yuri Khrameev, a 63-year-old former colonel in the Russian intelligence services, his son Kirill, 27, and Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a 35-year-old Cuban.

The other two suspects, Yaidel Delgado Suarez of Cuba and Angel Eduardo Castro of Venezuela, were allegedly working as recruiting agents in the US.

All five suspects remain at large.

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The attempted murder of the Russian dissident was the group's most recent operation, the statement said.

The plot fell apart after the man recruited to conduct surveillance on the target refused to carry out the murder, for which he had been offered $40,000.

Last year, a murder plot against a target in Lithuania who was "telling lies about Russia" failed for the same reason, according to the statement.

It also identified planned attacks on civilian and military infrastructure in European countries supporting Ukraine.  

"It is our job to stop America's adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil," Attorney General Todd Blanche said.

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