US accuses Russia of trying to kill Ukrainian allies overseas

The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has accused Russia of attempting to assassinate Ukrainian allies living abroad. In a recent statement, the DoJ charged five men, alleged to be affiliated with Russia's Intelligence Services (RIS), with conspiring to finance terrorism. If convicted, each of the men faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Among the accused are two high-ranking RIS members - Yuri Khrameev, a 63-year-old former Russian colonel, and his 27-year-old son Kirill Khrameev, also an officer in Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). Another suspect, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a 35-year-old Cuban national with ties to the Russian diaspora, is described as an influential member of the RIS network.

The two remaining defendants, Yaidel Delgado Suarez and Angel Eduardo Castro, are accused of recruiting US individuals to surveil and potentially murder a prominent Russian dissident. Authorities claim that Suarez offered up to $40,000 to a recruit willing to eliminate the dissident. The RIS network allegedly targeted several Americans and individuals in Lithuania, Russia, and Cuba.

This is not the first time Russian operatives have been accused of such plots; in 2024, German authorities warned of a Russian plot to kill Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, Germany's largest arms company. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed these accusations as "fake stories" and accused the US of "trying to eliminate people who are inconvenient for various reasons."