Accused of terrorist plots: Russians, a Cuban and a Venezuelan planned murders and arson

The accused are Russian service colonel Yuri Khramiev and his son Kirill, an FSB officer, and Cubans living in Russia, Oemis Ramagoza Durruthy, Yaidel Delgado Suarez and Venezuelan Angel Eduardo Castro. All five were involved in the organization, coordination and recruitment of agents for a number of attacks. It was about - unrealized - plans to kill Russian dissidents in Washington and Vilnius, as well as to set fire to bus stops in the Czech Republic and production plants in Šiauliai, Lithuania. All five were charged with conspiracy to finance terrorism and attempted murder for hire.

The indictment states that the named perpetrators remain at large, but at least one of the unnamed collaborators was captured in New York.

"Easier job" in NATO countries

Investigators found that the elder Khramiejew had, among other things, persuade a US citizen met on the Russian-Estonian border to follow a Russian oppositionist in Vilnius, offering him $200. for photos of his house and PLN 25,000. hole. for his murder.

When he refused, citing the difficulty of the task, Khramiev allegedly offered him "an easier job", such as setting fire to warehouses "in NATO countries" and "all countries helping Ukraine". The list included, among others: stations, substations, depots and wagons with humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

The Cuban indicated possible targets in Warsaw

The indictment also describes similar efforts by Cuban Ramagoza Durruthy, who allegedly recruited people to perform acts of sabotage in Europe. The indictment mentions only two such attacks, an attempted arson of bus depots in Prague in June 2024 and - as the context shows - an attack on the production plants of portable Ukrainian radios in Šiauliai, Lithuania, in September 2024. In addition, Durruthy allegedly sent one of the recruited agents "potential attack sites in Warsaw", but the document does not mention whether such attacks took place.

The role of Durruthy - who works as a dance instructor in Russia and has Russian citizenship - was described a day earlier in a joint investigation by Deutsche Welle and public television in Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Spain. Cuban allegedly recruited "one-time" agents via the Telegram app, mainly among Spanish-speaking immigrants, for attacks in a number of European countries: two construction companies in Poland, a bus depot in the Czech Republic, a recycling plant in Romania and equipment destined for Ukraine at a company in Lithuania. In some cases, he even offered them several thousand dollars for espionage or sabotage.

The defendants allegedly operated as part of a global assassination ring that reached into the United States, attempting to recruit U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to carry out assassinations on behalf of the Kremlin, John A. Eisenberg, deputy attorney general for national security, said in a statement.

Eisenberg said that such actions are a gross violation of US sovereignty and a threat to national security.

"We will defeat all attempts by foreign intelligence services to operate freely in our great country and we will not rest until they and their enablers suffer the harshest consequences that federal law can impose," he declared.