US prosecutors accuse five Russian agents of recruiting people for assassinations and acts of sabotage in Europe and the United States

US prosecutors have formally charged five people with ties to Russia’s intelligence services with attempting to recruit American and foreign nationals for assassinations and acts of sabotage in Europe and the United States. The unsealed indictment alleges that the network operated at the Kremlin’s direction and targeted Russian dissidents, as well as civilian and military infrastructure in countries perceived as aligned with Ukraine.

Three of the defendants are Yuri Hrameev, a former Russian intelligence colonel, his son Kiril Hrameev, an FSB officer, and Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a Cuban citizen living in Russia. The other two suspects, a Cuban and a Venezuelan, allegedly served as recruiters.

According to the Department of Justice, recruited individuals were offered between $1,000 and $1,500 for surveillance and up to $40,000 for an assassination. In 2025, an American was allegedly paid to photograph the home of a Russian dissident in Lithuania and was promised $25,000 for killing him.

Investigators allege that the network planned acts of sabotage in Prague and a terrorist attack in Lithuania in 2024. The five are being investigated while at liberty and are charged with conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder for hire. They face up to 20 and 10 years in prison, respectively.