U.S. Justice Department reveals network of Russian agents for terrorist attacks and contract killings

The United States Department of Justice has unsealed an indictment against five individuals whom U.S. prosecutors believe to be members of a network of Russian intelligence services. According to investigators, since 2024 the group has been recruiting people in the U.S. and Europe to conduct surveillance on Russian dissidents, carry out contract killings, and attack civilian and military infrastructure of countries supporting Ukraine.

The charges were announced on September 15 by U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche. The case is being heard in the federal court for the Southern District of New York. All five defendants remain at large.

Among the defendants, prosecutors name former Russian intelligence colonel Yuri Khrameyev, known as "Colonel Yuri," and his son Kirill Khrameyev, whom the U.S. Justice Department identifies as an FSB officer. Three other defendants are described by investigators as a coordinator and recruiters for the network.

One of the most recent episodes described in the indictment concerns the preparation of the murder of a prominent Russian dissident who, network members believed, was in the Washington, D.C. area. In the summer of 2026, they recruited a Venezuelan citizen living in the U.S. to conduct surveillance on the potential victim.

The operative was promised between $1,000 and $1,500 for the surveillance work. He provided photographs and videos of locations associated with the dissident. Subsequently, a payment of $40,000 was offered for the murder. After the recruited man declined to personally commit the murder, he was asked to find another operative.

A similar episode in Lithuania in 2025 is also described in the indictment. According to prosecutors, an American citizen was initially paid about $200 to surveil a person whom the Russian network accused of spreading criticism of Russia, and later offered approximately $25,000 for the murder.

After refusing the murder, Yuri Khrameyev, according to investigators, proposed that the same man carry out arsons and acts of sabotage. Among the potential targets mentioned in the indictment are railway stations, fuel storage tanks, rail cars with humanitarian aid and equipment for Ukraine, bus and tram depots, electrical substations, industrial facilities, and warehouses. Khrameyev allegedly explained that he was interested in countries that help Ukraine.

U.S. prosecutors also link one of the defendants, Oemis Romagos Durruti, to organizing attacks in Europe. Specifically, he is accused of coordinating an attack in Prague in June 2024, including financing and organizing the travel of the operative. In September of that year, according to investigators, he helped organize sabotage against a company in Šiauliai, Lithuania, that manufactured mobile radios for the Ukrainian military.

All five defendants are charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Yuri Khrameyev and two other defendants are also charged with conspiracy to commit murder for hire, with a maximum sentence of 10 years. The U.S. Justice Department emphasizes that the indictment contains allegations from the prosecution, and the defendants' guilt must be proven in court.

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, ABC News, CBS News