Federal prosecutors say members of a Russian intelligence network offered $40,000 to kill a dissident believed to be living in the United States and discussed using associates in Mexico to carry out the murder when a U.S.-based recruit declined.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
NEW YORK — A Russian intelligence network accused of organizing assassinations and attacks around the world discussed using people based in Mexico to murder a prominent Russian dissident in the United States, according to newly unsealed federal charges against five alleged members of the operation.
The alleged plot emerged in an indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York this week and detailed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Federal prosecutors say the network, which they describe as operating for Russian intelligence services, recruited people in the United States to conduct surveillance and attempted to arrange targeted killings of Russian government critics.
All five defendants remain at large. The Justice Department emphasized that the indictment contains allegations and that each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The latest alleged operation began this summer.
According to prosecutors, members of the network recruited an unidentified person living in the United States to surveil a prominent Russian dissident they believed was residing in the country.
Yaidel Delgado Suarez, a 35-year-old Cuban national also known as “Viking,” allegedly sent the recruit two locations connected to the intended victim and gave instructions on how to conduct surveillance.
The recruit was promised between $1,000 and $1,500 for that work, according to the indictment.
Federal authorities say the individual subsequently photographed and recorded locations associated with the intended target and transmitted the material back to Suarez.
The alleged operation then escalated from surveillance to murder.
Suarez and Venezuelan defendant Angel Eduardo Castro, 22, offered the U.S.-based recruit $40,000 to “eliminate” or “disappear” the dissident, prosecutors said.
When the recruit told them he was unwilling to personally carry out the killing, he was asked whether he knew “someone [who] can do the work.”
Suarez then allegedly disclosed that the network had another option outside the United States.
According to the Justice Department, he told the recruit that he had “people in Mexico” who could carry out the murder but that they were delayed at the time.
That exchange is the basis for reports that the Russian intelligence-linked operation had access to potential killers in Mexico.
A Breitbart News report described the communication as evidence of a Mexico-based group capable of conducting the assassination.
The federal charging documents themselves refer to Suarez having “people in Mexico” who could perform the killing. They do not publicly identify those individuals, specify their location in Mexico or state whether U.S. authorities have independently identified or charged them.
Prosecutors say the U.S. assassination attempt was part of a wider operation that has existed since at least 2024.
The Justice Department describes the organization as the “RIS Network,” alleging it functions as part of Russia’s apparatus for conducting attacks outside the country against dissidents, defectors and nations considered supportive of Ukraine.
Five people were charged.
Yuri Khrameev, also known as “Colonel Yuri,” 63, is described by federal prosecutors as a former colonel in the Russian intelligence services who participated in recruiting individuals to kill people regarded as Russian dissidents.
Kirill Khrameev, 27, is identified as Yuri Khrameev’s son and an officer in Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB.
Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35, is a Cuban national whom the Justice Department describes as an influential member of the Cuban diaspora in Russia who coordinated attacks and travel logistics for the network.
Suarez is accused of acting as a recruiter who sought multiple people inside the United States for surveillance and murder assignments.
Castro allegedly worked with Suarez to recruit U.S.-based individuals for surveillance and an attempted killing of the Russian dissident.
Federal prosecutors allege the group’s activities extended well beyond the Washington-area plot.
In another case dating to 2025, the network allegedly recruited a U.S. citizen to surveil a person in Lithuania whom its members considered hostile to Russia.
Prosecutors say Kirill Khrameev initially paid or promised the recruit $200 to photograph the individual’s location.
The recruit was then introduced to Yuri Khrameev, whom Kirill allegedly described as his “boss” and a “colonel.”
Yuri Khrameev offered approximately $25,000 to “kill him,” prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Khrameev said the target was “spreading dirt about my country” and “distorting history.”
He allegedly suggested that the person could be killed by “throwing a bottle of gasoline” or “sticking a knife” in him.
When the U.S. citizen refused the murder assignment, Khrameev allegedly proposed other attacks, including setting fire to a warehouse or throwing a gasoline bottle at an electrical substation.
Prosecutors say Khrameev explained that the purpose was to strike “all the countries that are helping Ukraine” and told the recruit there was “serious money for serious work.”
He also allegedly identified himself as a “colonel of Russian intelligence agencies.”
Durruthy is separately accused of coordinating overseas operations.
Federal authorities allege that in June 2024 he helped arrange an attack in Prague by sending another participant possible targets and facilitating travel.
He is also accused of helping coordinate a September 2024 attack in Lithuania and maintaining communications with people involved.
In November 2025, prosecutors say Durruthy communicated with Yuri Khrameev and obtained images of one of the U.S. dissident’s residences, which was later surveilled in 2026.
All five defendants are charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism, an offense carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years if convicted.
Yuri Khrameev, Suarez and Castro also face conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years.
The FBI’s New York Counterintelligence Division investigated the case with assistance from the FBI Washington Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations.
FBI officials said the investigation disrupted an alleged Russian effort to conduct violence inside the United States.
“The charges announced reveal an alleged plot by the Russian intelligence services to murder a dissident on U.S. soil for daring to speak out against the Russian government,” FBI Director Kash Patel said.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said prosecutors believe the defendants operated as part of a broader international network.
“These defendants allegedly operated as part of a global assassination network that reached into the United States, attempting to recruit U.S. citizens and foreigners to carry out killings at the behest of the Kremlin,” Eisenberg said.
Federal authorities have not publicly identified the dissident targeted in the Washington-area plot.
They have also not identified the U.S.-based Venezuelan recruit who conducted the surveillance or announced whether that person faces charges.
The indictment adds to broader U.S. concerns about Russian intelligence operations in the Western Hemisphere.
In July, the State Department published a report titled Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism, which discussed Russian intelligence activity in the region and described an increased presence of senior Russian intelligence personnel in Mexico as a source of tension between Washington and Mexico City.
The newly unsealed case provides a separate and more specific allegation involving Mexico: prosecutors say a member of the charged Russian intelligence network claimed he had people there capable of carrying out an assassination in the United States.
No people in Mexico have been publicly charged in connection with that portion of the alleged plot, and prosecutors have not disclosed whether investigators identified the individuals Suarez was referring to.
The case nevertheless gives federal authorities a detailed record of what they describe as a Russian-directed operation that moved from surveillance of an individual in the Washington area to an offer of $40,000 for murder and consideration of alternative killers outside the United States.
Whether prosecutors can ultimately prove those allegations will be determined in court if the defendants are apprehended and brought before the U.S. judicial system.
Original article
Comments