US authorities have uncovered a network of Russian intelligence agents who were preparing contract killings, sabotage and attacks around the world, including on American soil. Among other things, the network paid or intended to pay people in the United States and other countries to carry out pre-operational surveillance and targeted killings, and tasked accomplices with carrying out or preparing terrorist attacks against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries that support Ukraine.
The defendants remain at large. The US Department of Justice reported this.
According to investigators, the network, referred to as RIS, has been operating since at least 2024. It is one link in Russia’s apparatus for attacks, including killings, which had focused on Russian dissidents and is now primarily directed at Ukraine’s European allies.
Three of the defendants are senior members of the network:
- 63-year-old Russian national Yuriy Khramyev, also known as “Colonel Yuriy”, a former colonel in Russia’s security services who took part in recruiting people to kill those deemed Russian dissidents;
- his 27-year-old son Kyrylo Khramyev, an officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB);
- Oemís Romagosa Durruti, 35, a Cuban citizen and influential member of the Cuban diaspora living in Russia, who coordinated attacks for the network;
- 35-year-old Yaidel Delgado Suárez of Cuba, also known as “Viking”, a prolific recruiter who recruited or attempted to recruit several individuals in the United States;
- Ángel Eduardo Castro, 22, from Venezuela, who together with Suárez took part in recruiting people to surveil a prominent Russian dissident living in the United States (referred to as Victim-1) and in an attempt to kill him.
In the summer of this year, the “RIS Network” recruited a person in the United States (US Resident-1) to surveil the Russian dissident and kill him. In particular, Suárez sent US Resident-1 two locations linked to Victim-1 for observation; provided detailed instructions on how to conduct surveillance; and promised him between $1,000 and $1,500 for carrying out pre-operational surveillance. In turn, US Resident-1 carried out the requested surveillance and sent Suárez several photographs and videos of locations linked to Victim-1. Suárez and Castro then offered US Resident-1 $40,000 to “eliminate” Victim-1 or make him “disappear”, and when US Resident-1 told them he did not want to carry out the killing himself, they asked whether he knew “someone who can do this job”. Suárez also told US Resident-1 that he had “people in Mexico” who could carry out the killing, but they were delayed.
In addition, Suárez attempted to recruit several other individuals in the United States to conduct pre-operational surveillance and kill Victim-1 and other potential targets on US territory, offering them substantial sums of money to work against victims located in the United States. The alleged attempt on Victim-1’s life is the most recent episode in the network’s activities.
Last year, the indictment alleges, the network persuaded a US citizen (US Citizen-1) to surveil a person in Lithuania (Victim-2) and kill him. The “RIS Network” described this person as a “bad guy” who “spreads lies about Russia”. Kyrylo Khramyev initially recruited US Citizen-1 to travel to Victim-2’s alleged address and take photographs. After US Citizen-1 agreed and completed the task in exchange for the promised $200, Kyrylo Khramyev introduced him to a person he described as his “boss” and “colonel” — later identified as Yuriy Khramyev. Yuriy Khramyev then offered US Citizen-1 about $25,000 to “kill him” — Victim-2. Yuriy Khramyev also told US Citizen-1 they wanted Victim-2 dead because he “smears my country” and “distorts history”. Yuriy Khramyev then sent US Citizen-1 a photograph of Victim-2 and described how he could be killed by “throwing a bottle of petrol” or “stabbing him with a knife”. After US Citizen-1 refused to carry out the killing, Yuriy Khramyev offered him “an easier job”, which could include “setting fire to a warehouse with property or food” or “throwing a bottle of petrol at an electrical substation”. Yuriy Khramyev made it clear to US Citizen-1 that the goal was to act against “all countries that help Ukraine”, and that he was offering “serious money for serious work”. Finally, Yuriy Khramyev confirmed that he was a “colonel in the Russian security services”.
The network is also alleged to have recruited others to carry out terrorist attacks abroad. Oemís Romagosa Durruti coordinated the network’s travel and logistics. Around June 2024, Durruti coordinated an attack in Prague, including by sending another participant potential attack locations and facilitating his travel. Around September 2024, Durruti coordinated another attack in Lithuania, in which he booked travel for another person involved in the attack and communicated frequently and consistently with a person connected to it. Durruti also communicated with Yuriy Khramyev around November 2025, during which Durruti received materials about one of Victim-1’s residences, which US Resident-1 ultimately surveilled this year.
Yuriy Khramyev, Kyrylo Khramyev, Oemís Romagosa Durruti, Yaidel Delgado Suárez and Ángel Eduardo Castro have been charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment. Yuriy Khramyev, Suárez and Castro have also been charged with conspiracy to commit murder for hire (Count Two), which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.
“Our job is to prevent America’s adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil. And that is exactly what we are doing through the work of the FBI and prosecutors at our Department of Justice,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said the defendants likely acted as part of a global network of hitmen that recruited Americans and foreigners for contract killings on the Kremlin’s behalf.
“Such actions are a flagrant violation of our sovereignty and a threat to our national security. We will root out any attempts by foreign intelligence services to operate freely in our great country, and we will not rest until they and their accomplices face the most severe consequences that federal law can impose,” Eisenberg said.
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jayme Macdonald stressed that the Russian-led network charged “operates brazenly, aggressively and on a wide scale, and the charges brought should send a clear message: wherever you are and whoever you work for, we will investigate your crimes and hold you accountable”.