US uncovered a Russian network for preparing terrorist attacks and contract killings

The participants of this network were looking for perpetrators for the physical elimination of at least two Russian opposition figures, as well as for committing acts of sabotage against military and civilian targets, writes the BBC.

The US Department of Justice announced the declassification of charges against five individuals who, according to the department, worked for Russian intelligence services.

The department's statement says that this network "paid and attempted to pay individuals in the US and other countries for conducting preliminary surveillance and carrying out targeted assassinations, and also instructed its accomplices to commit and attempt to commit acts of terrorism against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries that are linked or considered linked to Ukraine."

The operational work to uncover the network was conducted by the FBI.

“The charges announced today are the culmination of outstanding work by numerous FBI field offices, divisions, and partner agencies, which together thwarted Russia's attempts to carry out violent acts in our nation's capital and throughout the United States,” stated Assistant Director Daren Cox.

Who Is Charged

The Department of Justice statement named five individuals. These are:

— 63-year-old Yuri Khromeyev (also referred to in the case as "Colonel Yuri"), a former colonel of Russian special services, who participated in recruiting individuals to commit assassinations of Russian opposition figures;

— his 27-year-old son Kirill Khromeyev, an FSB officer;

— Cuban citizen Oeimis Ramagosa Durruty, 35 years old;

Yaidel Delgado Suarez, also known as "Viking", 35 years old, a Cuban citizen;

— Angel Eduardo Castro, 22 years old, a Venezuelan citizen.

Media previously reported about the Cuban Oeimis Ramagosa Durruty in connection with acts of sabotage in Lithuania.

Deutsche Welle, having reviewed the documents, found that in 2024, someone under the pseudonym "Diaz" instructed recruited perpetrators to set fire to construction material warehouses in Poland, a bus depot in the Czech Republic, a waste processing plant in Romania, as well as Lithuanian-made equipment intended for Ukraine.

According to the publication, Oeimis Ramagosa Durruty, a Cuban citizen residing in Russia and declared wanted by Lithuanian law enforcement agencies, was hiding under this pseudonym.

What They Are Accused Of

According to the US Department of Justice, the network's participants acted on behalf of Russian special services. In the summer of 2026, the network recruited a US resident to monitor a well-known Russian opposition figure living in the US. The name of the opposition figure is not mentioned; in the Department of Justice statement, he is referred to as "Victim-1."

Suarez provided the recruited individual with surveillance data. The individual then provided the client with photographs and videos of locations associated with the potential victim, after which Suarez and Castro offered him $40,000 for committing the murder.

Furthermore, the same Suarez, according to the Department of Justice and FBI, attempted to recruit several other individuals in the US for surveillance and assassination not only of "Victim-1" but also of other targets.

In 2025, according to FBI data, the same network recruited an unnamed US citizen to monitor another Russian opposition figure located in Lithuania (he is designated as "Victim-2"). Kirill Khromeyev and his father Yuri Khromeyev participated in the operation.

Negotiations with the recruited perpetrator followed the same scheme. First, Kirill Khromeyev asked for photographs to be taken at the specified residence address of the potential victim, and then the elder Khromeyev offered the perpetrator $25,000 for the assassination.

As noted in the US Department of Justice statement, Yuri Khromeyev explained to the perpetrator that he desired the death of "Victim-2" because he "slanders the country" and "distorts history." The elder Khromeyev then suggested possible methods of assassination.

When the recruited American refused, he was offered "simpler work" — "setting fire to a warehouse with property or products" or "throwing a Molotov cocktail at a power substation," according to the statement by US authorities.

The network also allegedly recruited other individuals to carry out acts of sabotage in Europe. According to the Department of Justice, Oeimis Ramagosa Durruty coordinated an act of sabotage in the Czech Republic in June 2024, and in Lithuania in September 2024.

Yuri Khromeyev, Kirill Khromeyev, Oeimis Ramagosa Durruty, Yaidel Delgado Suarez, and Angel Eduardo Castro are accused of participating in a conspiracy to finance terrorism. Yuri Khromeyev, Suarez, and Castro are also accused of participating in a conspiracy to commit contract murder.

The first charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment, and the second — up to 10 years.

All defendants are currently at large, according to the statement by the US Department of Justice.

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