Five people have been charged in the United States over alleged Russian intelligence-linked plots involving surveillance, recruitment and planned killings, including an attempt to target a Russian dissident in the Washington DC area.
The indictment, unsealed by the US Department of Justice, alleges that the group worked for Russian intelligence services to carry out attacks and murders in the US and abroad. All five defendants remain at large.
The defendants are Russian national Yuri Khrameev, 63, his 27-year-old son Kirill Khrameev, Cuban nationals Oemis Romagoza Durruthy and Yaidel Delgado Suarez, both 35, and Venezuelan national Angel Eduardo Castro, 22.
All five face charges of conspiring to finance terrorism. Mr Suarez, Mr Castro and Yuri Khrameev are also accused of conspiring to commit murder for hire.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the alleged operations included attempts to kill a Russian dissident believed to be living near Washington DC.
Justice Department officials said the network recruited people in the US to conduct surveillance on Russian dissidents, with targets in both the United States and Lithuania.
One recruit was allegedly offered $40,000 to make a US-based target “disappear”. Another was reportedly promised $25,000 the previous year to kill someone in Lithuania.
Russia’s embassy in the US has not commented on the allegations. Moscow has repeatedly rejected claims that it has organised assassination operations on foreign soil, including in the United States.
