US charges five alleged Russian agents over global assassination plots

The US Department of Justice announced charges Tuesday against five alleged agents of Russian intelligence accused of conspiring to carry out attacks and murders worldwide, including in the United States. Active since at least 2024, the group tried this summer to have a prominent Russian dissident believed to be living in the US killed. The plot collapsed after a man recruited for surveillance, offered $40,000, refused. Main suspects are Yuri Khrameev, 63, son Kirill, 27, and Cuban Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35. All five remain at large.

Written by AI from France 24 · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 16 Sept 2026, 3:37 pm IST

Source

France 24 · read the original report ↗

#russia#us justice department#assassination plot#espionage#indictment

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

The US Department of Justice announced charges Tuesday against five alleged Russian intelligence agents. — Attributed to a Department of Justice statement in the source.
The network attempted to have a prominent Russian dissident believed to be living in the US murdered this summer. — Attributed to the DOJ statement; target not named in the source.
The three main suspects are Yuri Khrameev, 63, a former Russian intelligence colonel, his son Kirill, 27, and Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35, a Cuban. — Names, ages and roles appear in the source, citing the DOJ statement.
The plot collapsed after a man recruited for surveillance, offered $40,000, refused to carry out the killing. — Figure and account appear in the source, attributed to the statement; not independently verifiable.
All five suspects remain at large. — Stated in the source without further detail on location or extradition.

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Analysts’ view opinion

AI Strategic Affairs Analyst

This is not an ordinary criminal case: an alleged attempt to arrange killings abroad, and on US soil itself, points to the outsourcing of lethal covert work. The indictment alleges the group tried to recruit Americans and foreigners for money — a cheap, low-risk model that keeps a state's own officers out of the field and preserves deniability if the plot collapses. With all five defendants at large, the practical value of these charges lies less in punishment than in public exposure and deterrent signalling.

The alleged target set reaches well beyond the US — a person in Lithuania and planned attacks on civilian and military infrastructure in European countries supporting Ukraine — which shifts this from transnational repression into the territory of hybrid warfare.
One main suspect is described as a former colonel in Russian intelligence, while others are said to be Cuban and Venezuelan nationals, illustrating how geographically dispersed networks dilute attributability.
That the plot collapsed when the recruited man refused the $40,000 offer exposes the core weakness of the outsourcing model: reliance on people with no professional commitment to the mission.
Charges against fugitives typically work through indirect levers — travel restrictions, sanctions pressure, intelligence-sharing with partners, and discouraging future recruits — rather than arrests.
Equally, these remain allegations to be tested in court; Moscow has generally dismissed such cases as politically driven, so the shape of any diplomatic response is still unclear.

What to watch — Watch whether Washington keeps this purely judicial or escalates to sanctions, expulsions and coordinated statements with European partners, and whether European states visibly harden infrastructure security.

The story does not establish the identity of the alleged target, how high in the Russian state any orders originated, or which agency was involved — all of it remains unproven allegation at this stage.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 4 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

The US Department of Justice has unsealed charges against five men it describes as agents working for Russian intelligence, accused of running what prosecutors call a "global assassination network" that extended into the United States. The group, active since at least 2024, allegedly tried to recruit American citizens and foreigners to kill targets on the Kremlin's orders, including a prominent but unnamed Russian dissident believed to be living in the US. It is also linked to a failed murder plot in Lithuania and to planned attacks on civilian and military infrastructure in European countries that support Ukraine. All five suspects remain at large.

Key facts

The US Department of Justice announced charges on Tuesday against five alleged agents for Russian intelligence accused of conspiring to carry out attacks and murders worldwide, including in the US.
The group has been active since at least 2024, according to the Justice Department statement.
This summer the group allegedly tried to have a "prominent Russian dissident" believed to be living in the US murdered; the department did not name the target.
The plot collapsed after the man recruited to conduct surveillance on the target refused to carry out the murder, for which he had been offered $40,000.
Main suspects: Yuri Khrameev, 63, a former colonel in the Russian intelligence services; his son Kirill, 27; and Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a 35-year-old Cuban.
Two other suspects, Yaidel Delgado Suarez of Cuba and Angel Eduardo Castro of Venezuela, were allegedly working as recruiting agents in the US.
Last year a murder plot against a target in Lithuania who was "telling lies about Russia" failed for the same reason, the statement said.
The statement also identified planned attacks on civilian and military infrastructure in European countries supporting Ukraine; all five suspects remain at large.

Timeline

At least 2024The alleged Russian intelligence-linked network becomes active, according to the Justice Department.
Last yearA murder plot against a target in Lithuania accused of "telling lies about Russia" fails after the recruit refuses to carry it out.
This summerThe group's most recent operation: an attempt to murder a prominent Russian dissident believed to be living in the US, which collapses when the recruited man refuses.
Tuesday (date not stated in the source)The US Department of Justice announces charges against the five alleged agents, all of whom remain at large.

Who has a stake

US Department of Justice — Prosecuting the alleged network; Attorney General Todd Blanche said stopping adversaries from "unleashing violence and terror on American soil" is its job.
John Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security — Publicly characterised the accused as part of "a global assassination network that reached into the United States".
The unnamed prominent Russian dissident in the US — Was the intended target of an assassination attempt this summer, according to the statement.
Russia / the Kremlin — Prosecutors allege recruits were sought to carry out killings on the Kremlin's orders; no Russian response is stated in the source.
European countries supporting Ukraine — Their civilian and military infrastructure was identified as the object of planned attacks by the network.
The five accused (Yuri and Kirill Khrameev, Romagoza Durruthy, Delgado Suarez, Castro) — Face US charges; all remain at large and are yet to be tried.

Why it matters

The case alleges that a state intelligence service tried to organise killings on the soil of another state, and to hire ordinary residents to do it — an escalation of the covert side of the war over Ukraine. It also links assassination plotting to sabotage plans against infrastructure in European countries backing Kyiv, widening the risk to civilians far from the front. With all five suspects at large, the charges are as much a signalling and deterrence exercise as a prosecution.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

The US Department of Justice announced charges on Tuesday against five alleged Russian intelligence agents over worldwide assassination and attack plots.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security in the case: John Eisenberg; US Attorney General quoted: Todd Blanche.
Lead accused: Yuri Khrameev, 63, described as a former colonel in the Russian intelligence services, with son Kirill, 27.
Accused of foreign nationality: Oemis Romagoza Durruthy and Yaidel Delgado Suarez (Cuba), Angel Eduardo Castro (Venezuela).
The failed summer plot involved a $40,000 offer to a recruit who conducted surveillance but refused to kill the target.
The network is also alleged to have planned attacks on civilian and military infrastructure in European states supporting Ukraine.

Mains framing

The US indictment of five alleged Russian intelligence agents illustrates how great-power confrontation increasingly plays out through deniable, low-cost covert operations rather than open conflict. Prosecutors allege a network active since at least 2024 sought to kill a prominent Russian dissident living in the US, attempted a similar killing in Lithuania, and planned attacks on civilian and military infrastructure in European countries backing Ukraine — using recruiters based in the US and nationals of third countries such as Cuba and Venezuela, with cash inducements as low as $40,000. Two features stand out: the alleged targeting of political exiles on foreign soil, which strikes at asylum protections and freedom of expression, and the reliance on locally recruited, ideologically uncommitted proxies, which makes such plots cheap but fragile — both the US and Lithuanian plots reportedly collapsed when recruits refused. Since all five accused remain at large, the response rests less on courtroom outcomes than on public attribution, protective policing for at-risk dissidents, hardening of critical infrastructure, and cross-border intelligence and extradition cooperation. For India, the episode is a reminder that transnational repression and contract-based plots against individuals abroad are a growing law-enforcement and diplomatic challenge requiring clear legal frameworks and reciprocal cooperation.

Key terms

US Department of Justice (DOJ): The US federal law-enforcement and prosecution department that announced the charges against the five alleged Russian agents.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security: Senior DOJ official heading national security prosecutions; John Eisenberg, who described a "global assassination network" reaching into the US.
Attorney General: Head of the US Justice Department; Todd Blanche, quoted as saying the department's job is to stop adversaries unleashing violence on American soil.
Russian dissident: A political opponent or critic of the Russian government; an unnamed prominent dissident believed to live in the US was the alleged target.
At large: Charged but not in custody — the status of all five suspects in this case.
Recruiting agents: Role allegedly played in the US by Yaidel Delgado Suarez and Angel Eduardo Castro, enlisting people to carry out killings.

Practice questions

Transnational repression — the targeting of dissidents and exiles on foreign soil — poses a challenge to sovereignty and to the rule of law. Discuss with reference to the recent US charges against alleged Russian intelligence agents.
How do covert operations such as assassination plots and infrastructure sabotage complicate the distinction between war and peace in contemporary international relations? Examine.
Public indictments of foreign state agents who remain at large are often described as instruments of deterrence rather than justice. Critically evaluate this view.

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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