U.S. uncovers network that plotted assassinations of Russian ‘dissidents’ in Washington and Vilnius. Among the suspects: an ex-colonel with Putin ties, his FSB officer son, and a Cuban dancer.

The U.S. Justice Department has uncovered a criminal network, known as the RIS Network, tied to Russian intelligence services. The group recruited operatives to carry out assassinations and sabotage attacks in countries allied with Ukraine, including the United States and Lithuania. Five individuals – an ex-colonel with ties to Putin, his FSB officer son, a Cuban dancer, and two others – have been charged in connection with the plot.

The indictment alleges that the RIS Network carried out attacks in several countries, such as Lithuania and the Czech Republic, targeting Russian dissidents and opposition figures. One case involved a prominent Russian dissident living in Washington, D.C., who was allegedly targeted for assassination in the summer of 2026. Another case involved an opposition critic living near Vilnius, Lithuania, who was targeted in 2025.

The RIS Network allegedly offered substantial sums of money to carry out these killings and sabotage attacks. The group's operations have been traced back to Yuri Khrameev, a Russian colonel with alleged ties to Putin, his son Kirill, a FSB officer, and Cuban nationals Oemis Romagoza Durruthy and Angel Eduardo Castro. Durruthy is accused of recruiting operatives and organizing arson attacks across Europe, while Khrameev and his son were charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.