US prosecutors have accused members of a Russian intelligence assassination network of targeting critics of the Kremlin, including an alleged murder-for-hire plot against a dissident in the United States.
An indictment unsealed in New York names five defendants said to belong to the so-called RIS Network: former Russian intelligence colonel Yuri Khrameev, his son Kirill, two Cuban nationals and a Venezuelan national. All are believed to live in Russia and remain at large.
The defendants have been charged with conspiring to finance terrorism. Yuri Khrameev, one of the Cuban operatives and the Venezuelan suspect also face charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire.
Alleged plot against Russian dissident
Prosecutors say the Venezuelan operative and one of the Cuban suspects recruited a Brooklyn resident during July and August to photograph and film two locations linked to an unnamed Russian dissident.
The recruiter allegedly offered between 1,000 and 1,500 US dollars for the surveillance work, with a further 40,000 dollars promised to “eliminate” or “disappear” the target.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the operatives believed the dissident was living in the Washington DC area. The Brooklyn resident agreed to take photographs but indicated that he was not prepared to carry out a killing, according to the indictment.
The operatives then allegedly asked whether he knew anybody else who might be willing to do it. One message cited in the court papers said: “Let me know as soon as possible because I have a chain and my boss has questions.”
The Brooklyn resident and an unnamed US citizen who was allegedly approached in a separate operation have not been charged.
Recruitment efforts in Europe
The indictment also alleges that Yuri Khrameev and his son tried to recruit the US citizen in Lithuania to kill a person accused of “telling lies about Russia”. The younger Khrameev allegedly met him near the Estonia-Russia border and asked him to photograph the target’s address.
After paying him 200 dollars for the surveillance, Yuri Khrameev allegedly offered 25,000 dollars for the killing, saying the individual was “spreading dirt about my country” and telling people that Russia was the aggressor.
When the offer was rejected, the Russian intelligence officer allegedly suggested setting fire to a warehouse or electrical substation instead. He was said to have expressed an interest in attacks on countries supporting Ukraine and offered “serious money for serious work”.
Members of the network are also accused of helping to facilitate two failed arson attacks in Europe in 2024. One involved an attempt to set fire to buses in the Czech Republic, while the other targeted a Lithuanian facility supplying radio equipment to Ukraine.
Prosecutors allege that one of the Cuban defendants communicated with people involved in both operations and arranged hotels and travel for them.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg described the alleged activity as “a gross violation of our sovereignty and a threat to our national security”. He said the defendants had allegedly operated as part of a network that reached into the US and sought to recruit Americans and foreign nationals to carry out killings.
The allegations come amid longstanding accusations that the Russian government has pursued opponents beyond its borders. Alexei Navalny survived a suspected nerve-agent poisoning in 2020 before returning to Russia and dying in prison more than two years ago, while former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in the UK in 2018.
Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent who became a critic of the Kremlin, died in the UK in 2006 after being exposed to a radioactive substance. The Russian government has denied involvement in the poisoning of critics.
