Federal prosecutors have unsealed an indictment accusing members of Russia's intelligence services of running a global assassination network that targeted Kremlin critics, including an alleged plot to kill a Russian dissident believed to be living in the Washington, D.C., area. The scheme, according to court documents, unfolded in July and August 2026 and involved operatives offering tens of thousands of dollars to track down and eliminate the target.
The Justice Department accused members of Russia's intelligence services of running the network, and federal prosecutors in New York unsealed an indictment against five alleged members, as first reported by CBS News. The network named in the indictment includes Yuri Khrameev, his son Kirill Khrameev, two Cuban operatives and one Venezuelan operative, all of whom are believed to live in Russia and remain at large, per the same outlet's reporting.
A $40,000 Offer to 'Eliminate' a Target
Court documents describe operatives offering $40,000 to eliminate or disappear the surveillance target, according to CBS News. A Brooklyn resident was separately offered $1,000 to $1,500 for photos and videos of two locations, and the network believed the Russian dissident lived in the Washington, D.C., area. That Brooklyn resident ultimately declined to kill the dissident, the outlet reports.
A Venezuelan operative and a Cuban operative recruited the Brooklyn resident to conduct surveillance, while a separate U.S. citizen was asked to photograph the target's address and was paid $200 for surveillance work, according to CBS News. Neither the U.S. citizen nor the Brooklyn resident was charged or named in the indictment. Unsealed court documents state that 27-year-old defendant Kirill Khrameev is an active officer in Russia's Federal Security Service, the principal successor agency to the Soviet KGB, operating directly alongside his father, former intelligence colonel Yuri Khrameev, who is 63.
A Second Plot in Lithuania
The network is also accused of facilitating failed arson attacks in the Czech Republic and Lithuania in 2024, per CBS News's reporting. Yuri Khrameev and Kirill Khrameev allegedly tried to recruit a U.S. citizen in Lithuania in 2025 to kill a person accused of telling lies about Russia, offering $25,000 for the killing. During that plot, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Yuri Khrameev sent the U.S. citizen a photograph of the target and suggested executing the murder by throwing a bottle of gasoline or using a knife. Yuri Khrameev also suggested the U.S. citizen could instead be paid to set a warehouse or electrical substation on fire, and that same U.S. citizen met Kirill Khrameev at the Estonia-Russia border, CBS News reports. The U.S. citizen ultimately declined to kill the target. A Lithuanian facility supplying radio equipment to Ukraine was also connected to the plotting, per the outlet.
Recruiters, Logistics, and a 'Chain'
A Cuban defendant booked hotels and travel for associates involved in the attacks and communicated with those involved in the Lithuanian and Czech operations, according to CBS News. That defendant, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a 35-year-old Cuban national living in Russia, was identified by a joint European news investigation as a former salsa dance instructor who used online aliases like Dios to recruit Latin American migrants for Russian arson and reconnaissance tasks across Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Lithuania, according to Martí Noticias. A Cuban recruiter, identified in the indictment as Yaidel Delgado Suarez, wrote in one message, “Let me know as soon as possible because I have a chain and my boss has questions,” CBS News reports. Federal prosecutors said Delgado Suarez exchanged roughly 96 messages over an encrypted app with an associate between August 27 and September 10, 2026, while coordinating logistics for the network, according to the Justice Department.
Charges and Potential Prison Terms
All five defendants face Count One for conspiracy to finance terrorism, which carries a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison, according to the Department of Justice. Yuri Khrameev, Delgado Suarez, and a Venezuelan operative identified as Angel Eduardo Castro also face Count Two for murder-for-hire conspiracy, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. All five defendants were charged with terrorism finance conspiracy, and CBS News reports they remain at large in Russia.
John Eisenberg called the alleged plots a gross violation of U.S. sovereignty and a threat to national security, according to CBS News. The outlet reported that it reached out to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment. The Justice Department's indictment also noted that European authorities have faced escalating Russian hybrid warfare, citing a September 2026 German investigation that linked Russian military intelligence, the GRU, to a drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany.
Investigators and a Pattern of Repression
The federal investigation into the network was spearheaded by the FBI New York Field Office's Counterintelligence Division, with assistance from the FBI Washington Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations, according to the Justice Department. The case arrives as federal law enforcement officials reported in July 2026 that the FBI was maintaining nearly 5,000 open counterintelligence investigations nationwide, having opened more than 800 new cases in 2026 alone amid rising foreign agent activity, per the FBI.
Freedom House research indicates that between 2014 and 2022, 38 foreign governments carried out at least 854 direct physical incidents of transnational repression — including assassinations, abductions, and physical assaults — across 91 countries, with Russia ranking among the top five perpetrator states, according to testimony cited by the Congressional Research Service. CBS News also noted past cases tied to Russia, including Alexei Navalny, who survived a suspected nerve-agent poisoning in 2020 and died in a Russian prison more than two years before publication; Sergei Skripal and his daughter, who were poisoned by a nerve agent in the United Kingdom in 2018; and Alexander Litvinenko, who died from a radioactive substance in the United Kingdom in 2006. Vladimir Putin's administration has denied any role in poisoning critics, per the outlet.
Echoes of a Similar New York Case
The alleged Russian plot follows a similar pattern seen in a case involving Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who survived multiple alleged murder and kidnapping attempts. In March 2025, a Manhattan federal jury convicted two organized crime figures, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, for their roles in a $500,000 Iranian-backed murder-for-hire plot targeting Alinejad in New York City, according to PBS News. Hoodline previously covered that trial's start and later reported on Alinejad's courtroom defiance as the case unfolded.
CBS News also reported that Chinese government agents operated an illegal police station in New York City to monitor and harass dissidents, and that CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow and met with Russian officials in August 2026. American intelligence agencies have assessed that Putin could be increasingly willing to authorize provocative actions on NATO territory, according to the outlet's reporting.
