WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (DC Times Online) — Federal prosecutors allege that five men linked to Russian intelligence services took part in a network that tried to surveil and kill a Russian dissident believed to be living in the Washington, D.C., area.
The allegations are contained in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court. The defendants are Yuri “Colonel Yuri” Khrameev, Kirill Khrameev, Yaidel “Viking” Delgado Suarez, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy and Angel Eduardo Castro. All five are charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism, prosecutors say. Khrameev, Suarez and Castro also face charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire.
The charges are accusations. The defendants remain at large, and the case has not been resolved in court.
What was the alleged Washington plot?
According to the indictment, the network recruited a Venezuelan citizen living in Brooklyn to gather information about a prominent Russian dissident in the Washington area. The dissident’s identity has not been made public in the supplied court reporting.
Prosecutors allege that the recruit was offered between $1,000 and $1,500 to photograph and record two locations connected to the intended victim. The instructions allegedly included placing his phone in airplane mode, recording while passing the target’s home and deleting messages afterward.
The recruit is alleged to have completed the surveillance but rejected an offer of $40,000 to kill the dissident. Prosecutors say the recruiters then looked for other people in the United States who could carry out the killing.
The indictment reportedly used the word “construction” as coded language for the proposed attack. Prosecutors also allege that recruiters discussed finding someone to “eliminate” or “disappear” the target.
The FBI has said it disrupted the alleged Washington plot. Officials have not publicly explained, in the supplied material, how the disruption occurred.
Who is charged?
The five defendants named in the indictment are:
- Yuri “Colonel Yuri” Khrameev: charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder for hire in Manhattan federal court.
- Kirill Khrameev: charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism.
- Yaidel “Viking” Delgado Suarez: charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder for hire.
- Oemis Romagoza Durruthy: charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism.
- Angel Eduardo Castro: charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder for hire.
The indictment identifies the men as members of a broader network that prosecutors say was connected to Russian intelligence services. The Justice Department has not, in the supplied material, provided a public account of the defendants’ arrests or entered responses from their lawyers.
What does the case allege about the wider network?
Prosecutors allege that the network had operated since at least 2024. In addition to the alleged effort against the Washington-area dissident, the indictment describes suspected plans to attack civilian and military infrastructure in European countries aligned with, or viewed as aligned with, Ukraine.
The alleged activity involved recruiting people in different countries and using intermediaries, prosecutors say. The indictment also describes contacts through encrypted communications and efforts to find people who could carry out attacks for payment.
Those broader allegations are part of the government’s case. They are not findings by a court.
What is known about the timeline?
Prosecutors say the network’s activities began by at least 2024. In July 2026, the alleged recruiters began communicating with the Brooklyn-based Venezuelan through an encrypted application, according to the indictment.
The surveillance and alleged $40,000 offer took place in August, prosecutors say. The indictment was unsealed Sept. 15, 2026, in Manhattan federal court, and federal officials described the allegations publicly the following day.
The supplied court reporting does not identify the dissident, the two locations that were allegedly surveilled, the full case caption, the docket number or the judge assigned to the case. It also does not describe any involvement by Washington, D.C., police or other local law-enforcement agencies.
