Russian Intelligence Network Charged with Murder-for-Hire Plot Against US-Based Dissident
Yuri Khrameev/Source: X | @CrimeanVoyager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Department of Justice unsealed charges against five members of a Russian intelligence network on September 15, 2026, alleging a conspiracy to murder a prominent Russian dissident living in the Washington, DC area. All five defendants remain at large.
ANALYSIS
The Southern District of New York (SDNY) indictment names five defendants: Yuri Khrameev, 63, a former colonel in Russian intelligence services; Kirill Khrameev, 27, an active Federal Security Service (FSB) officer and Yuri's son; Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35, a Cuban national based in Russia who coordinated logistics for the network across Europe; Yaidel Delgado Suarez, 35, known as "Viking," a prolific recruiter; and Angel Eduardo Castro, 22, a Venezuelan national who worked with Suarez on US-based recruitment. All five are believed to reside in Russia.
This past summer, Suarez and Castro recruited a Venezuelan national living in Brooklyn, identified in court documents as US Resident-1, to conduct pre-operational surveillance against the targeted dissident in the Washington, DC area. Suarez provided two addresses linked to the target, detailed surveillance instructions, and promised between $1,000 and $1,500 for the job. US Resident-1 completed the surveillance and passed back photographs and video. The conspirators then offered $40,000 to "eliminate" or "disappear" the target. When US Resident-1 said he would not kill the man himself, they asked if he knew "someone who can do the work" and noted they had "people in Mexico" who could finish it.
The network ran a parallel operation through Europe in 2025. Kirill Khrameev paid a US citizen $200 to photograph an individual in Lithuania described as a "bad guy" who was "telling lies about Russia." After the task was completed, the contact was introduced to Yuri Khrameev, who offered $25,000 to kill the Lithuanian target. Yuri told the recruit the man deserved to die because he was "spreading dirt about my country" and described how it could be done: throwing gasoline or stabbing. When the US citizen declined, Yuri offered "simpler" work, including setting fire to a warehouse or throwing gasoline at an electrical substation, and told him the goal was to hurt "all the countries that are helping Ukraine."
The indictment charges all five with conspiracy to finance terrorism, which carries a maximum of 20 years. Yuri Khrameev, Suarez, and Castro also face conspiracy to commit murder for hire, which carries a maximum of 10 years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Counterintelligence Division in New York and the FBI Washington Field Office led the investigation across multiple field offices. The network also organized attacks in Prague in June 2024 and Lithuania in September 2024. US Attorney Jamie McDonald called the network "brazen, aggressive, and far-reaching" and said it was built to "cause destruction and mayhem around the world."
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