DOJ Accuses Russian Intel Ring Of Plotting Murder On American Soil
In something that sounds straight from the plot of "Homeland" or the more recent CIA thriller "Lioness", the Trump administration has charged multiple members of Russia's intelligence services with running a "global assassination network" that targeted Kremlin critics.
The Department of Justice has newly revealed and alleged that one murder plot even took place on American soil over the summer.
The fugitives have been named but have not been apprehended, and are still at large. A murder-for-hire plot is detailed in an indictment which was unsealed Tuesday by federal prosecutors in New York.
The plot was never followed through on, but a Russian dissident is said to have been targeted, during which time a Brooklyn man was recruited by Cuban and Venezuelan individuals - both which were ultimately being run by a Russian intelligence handler - but the Brooklyn man is said to have gotten cold feet when asked to carry out an assassination.
The five defendants are all believed to live in Russia, and are part of what court documents call the "RIS Network," including a 63-year-old former Russian intelligence colonel named Yuri Khrameev, as well as his son Kirill.
According to a summary of the wild plot and allegations:
It marks the latest alleged attempt by a U.S. adversary to crack down on dissidents abroad, including in the United States and NATO-allied countries.
One of the murder-for-hire plots took place in July and August of this year, the indictment says. The Venezuelan operative and one of the Cuban operatives allegedly recruited a Brooklyn resident to take photos and videos of two locations associated with an unnamed Russian dissident, promising him $1,000 to $1,500 to carry out the "gravely serious work." Another $40,000 was offered to "eliminate" or "disappear" the target of the surveillance.
The operatives believed the Russian dissident lived in the Washington, D.C., area, Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. The Brooklyn resident was willing to take photos, the indictment said, but expressed unwillingness to "do the other stuff" — as in, kill the dissident. The operatives then allegedly asked the Brooklyn resident if he knew of anybody else who was interested.
"Let me know as soon as possible because I have a chain and my boss has questions," one of the Cuban recruiters wrote, according to the indictment. "I have people in Mexico right now and they're delayed. I only need a response to know if someone can do the work. It doesn't have to be today or tomorrow just need to know if the[y] can."
Some skepticism is of course always warranted when dealing with official US claims related to what Russian intelligence is up to.
$25,000 to unalive someone for being a “bad guy” who was “telling lies about Russia.” And get this, they were also “spreading dirt about my country” and “distorting history.”
— Aaron Andrew Hickman (@hickman0000) September 16, 2026
It reads like a cartoon. https://t.co/BLhHLoSxUF
For example, the latter part of the above - where a foreign agent reportedly broadly asks his asset whether he knows anyone else that can do the killing - seems amateurish, dubious and needlessly high risk.
The Kremlin has on Wednesday rejected the claims, describing that there's simply no evidence to even warrant a serious explanation:
Until "any plausible evidence" emerges, there is no point in commenting on statements by the US Department of Justice about the exposure of a number of individuals allegedly working for Russian intelligence, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"Until we have heard and seen any credible evidence and arguments based on something tangible, we do not consider it necessary to comment on this news," he noted in response to a request to comment on a statement by US Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said that a number of individuals working for Russian intelligence had been exposed in the country.
New: The Russian government backed a murder-for-hire plot on U.S. soil, according to this new indictment from the DOJ.
— Erik Uebelacker (@Uebey) September 15, 2026
cc @CourthouseNews pic.twitter.com/1EcQctp8Rm
Washington has over recent years lobbed significant accusations of espionage and nefarious recruitment schemes against Russian intelligence, especially since the Ukraine war began. Russian intel seems much more active in Europe, however.
The other country which tends to get named in these reports is Iran. The Trump administration has even accused the IRGC of its own assassin-for-hire plot against the president himself.
* * * Add two to cart
