US charges five people over alleged Russian plots

What the report says

US federal prosecutors have charged five people in connection with alleged Russian intelligence-linked plots involving surveillance, recruitment and planned killings, according to an indictment unsealed by the Justice Department. Al Jazeera reported that the defendants include Russian national Yuri Khrameev, his son Kirill Khrameev, and three Latin American nationals: Cubans Oemis Romagoza Durruthy and Yaidel Delgado Suarez, and Venezuelan Angel Eduardo Castro.

Prosecutors said the group acted on behalf of Russian intelligence services and worked on attacks and murders internationally, including inside the United States. All five remain at large. The charges include conspiracy to finance terrorism for all defendants, while Yuri Khrameev, Suarez and Castro also face allegations of conspiring to commit murder for hire.

At a news conference, US Attorney General Todd Blanche said the alleged plots included efforts to kill a Russian dissident believed to be in the Washington, DC area. Justice Department officials also said the network recruited people in the US to watch Russian dissidents, with alleged targets in both the US and Lithuania.

According to the article, one recruit was allegedly offered $40,000 to make a US-based target disappear, while another was reportedly promised $25,000 to kill a person in Lithuania. Russia’s embassy in the US had not commented, and Moscow has denied similar accusations in the past. The case matters because it highlights ongoing US concerns about foreign-directed plotting and the alleged use of intermediaries to carry out surveillance and violence.