Counterterrorism magazine published my piece on a Russian murder squad operating in the U,S,
You can read the piece via the pages above and
below or the following text:
Colonel Yuri's Murder Squad: Russian Intelligence Conspired To Finance
Terrorism and Commit Murder for Hire in the U.S.
By Paul Davis
Back in 2019 the Washington Times ran my review of Heidi Black’s “From Russia With Blood.”
I opened the review by quoting Ben Macintyre, a
columnist for the London Times and the
author of “The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold
War,” “A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal,” and more
recently, “Redwood: The Untold Story of the Cold War’s Most Extraordinary Spy.”
Macintyre wrote about a Russian GRU (military intelligence) assassination group operating in Europe that is the descendant of the Soviet assassination organization SMERSH, (Smertʹ Shpionam, or “Death To Spies.”).
“If the idea of a ruthless spy-killing unit
sounds like the stuff of fiction, that’s because it became precisely that,” Ben
Macintyre wrote in his London Times column. “In the James Bond novels, Ian
Fleming portrayed SMERSH as a massive counterintelligence network that more
closely resembled the KGB.”
In
Ian Fleming’s classic 1957 thriller “From Russia
With Love,” James Bond was the target of a SMERSH plot to assassinate him and
discredit British intelligence in a sex scandal. SMERSH sent out from Russia a psychopath assassin named Red Grant to kill Bond and
used a beautiful Russian girl as bait to lure 007 to Istanbul.
Ben Macintyre wrote in his London Times column that the real SMERSH was
effective in not only murdering Soviet traitors (some of whom were undoubtedly
innocent, he noted), but SMERSH also instilled terror among potential enemies
and enforced obedience in Soviet citizens.
“And now it is back, with a new name and a new
remit but essentially the same purpose: to put the fear of God, and
assassination, into Russia’s enemies, traitors
and deserters,” Macintyre wrote. “According to intelligence sources, Unit 29155
is an elite sub-unit of GRU assassins that operated out of the Haute-Savoie in
the French Alps, conducting a variety of wet jobs across Europe: notably the
attempted poisoning in Salisbury of GRU officer-turned-MI6 spy Sergei Skripal,
and the attempt to kill a Bulgarian arms dealer in 2015.”
Heidi Blake’s “From Russia With Blood” (a clever take on Ian Fleming’s “From Russia With Love” title), lifts the veil off a series of murders in the United Kingdom and places blame squarely on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
And
now, according to the U.S. Justice Department, Russia has a new murder squad
headed by Yuri Khrameev, a Russian
intelligence officer also known as “Colonel Yuri.”
The Justice Department announced on September
15th the unsealing of charges against five individuals working
for the intelligence services of the Russian Federation to conduct attacks and
murders around the world, including in the United States.
As detailed in the unsealed indictment, the
network is alleged to have, among other things, paid and attempted to pay
individuals within the United States and elsewhere to conduct pre-operational
surveillance and carry out targeted killings, and commissioned
associates to commit and attempt to commit acts of terrorism against
civilian and military infrastructure in European countries that are aligned, or
perceived to be aligned, with Ukraine. The defendants remain at large.
“It is
our job to stop America’s adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on
American soil,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “And that’s precisely what
we are doing thanks to the work of the FBI and our Justice Department
prosecutors.”
FBI
Director Kash Patel added, “The charges announced reveal an alleged plot by the
Russian intelligence services to murder a dissident on U.S. soil for daring to
speak out against the Russian government. As alleged in the indictment, this
plot exposes the lengths to which our adversaries will go to silence its
critics and illustrates the grave threat transnational repression poses to the
lives and freedoms of all who challenge authoritarian regimes. The FBI is
committed to defending the free speech of everyone within our homeland and will
not tolerate any attempts by foreign governments to violate our laws and
threaten our freedoms.”
Assistant
Director in Charge of the FBI New York Field Office James C. Barnacle Jr. stated,
“As alleged in this indictment, members of the Russian Intelligence Services
and their affiliates conspired to intimidate, threaten, or murder people on
U.S. soil and around the world. The FBI disrupted this operation through
relentless work and rock-solid partnership. The FBI is committed to confronting
transnational repression wherever it occurs and protecting those targeted for
exercising their fundamental rights. We thank the multiple FBI Field Offices
and the U.S. Attorney’s Office whose coordination and commitment made this
disruption possible.”
According
to the Justice Department, since at least 2024, a network of individuals
working for the intelligence services of the Russian Federation (the “RIS
Network”) has conspired to conduct and conducted attacks and murders around the
world, including within the United States. The RIS Network is one arm of the
Russian Federation’s apparatus to carry out external attacks, including murder,
and has focused on Russian dissidents and defectors and, most recently, on
nations perceived as allies of Ukraine. Most recently, members of the RIS
Network have attempted to recruit multiple individuals within the United States
to carry out pre-operational surveillance and murder within this country.
As the
Justice department noted, three of the defendants are high-ranking members of
the RIS Network. Those three defendants are: Yuri Khrameev, or “Colonel
Yuri,” 63, of Russia, a former colonel in the Russian intelligence services who
has participated in the recruitment of multiple individuals to commit murder
against perceived Russian dissidents; Kirill Khrameev, 27, of Russia, an
officer in the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB) and Yuri Khrameev’s
son; and Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35, a Cuban national who is an
influential member of the Cuban diaspora living in Russia who has coordinated
attacks for the RIS Network. Two additional members of the RIS Network who are
charged in the indictment are Yaidel Delgado Suarez, also known as
“Viking,” 35, of Cuba, who is a prolific recruiter for the RIS Network and
who has recruited or attempted to recruit multiple individuals in the United
States; and Angel Eduardo Castro, 22, of Venezuela, who participated with
Suarez in the recruitment of U.S.-based individuals to surveil and attempt to
murder a prominent U.S.-based Russian dissident (Victim-1).
“The
RIS Network has allegedly carried out or conspired to carry out multiple
schemes around the world. Most recently, this summer, the RIS Network recruited
an individual based in the United States (U.S. Resident-1) to surveil
and murder a prominent Russian dissident they believed to be residing in the
United States. Among other things, Suarez sent U.S. Resident-1 two
locations associated with Victim-1 to surveil; provided U.S. Resident-1 with
explicit instructions on how to conduct surveillance; and promised U.S.
Resident-1 between $1,000 and $1,500 dollars to carry out the pre-operational
surveillance, “the Justice Department stated. “In turn, U.S. Resident-1
conducted the requested surveillance and passed back to
Suarez multiple photographs and videos of locations associated with
Victim-1. Suarez and Castro further offered U.S. Resident-1 $40,000 to
“eliminate” or “disappear” Victim-1 and, when U.S. Resident-1told
them that he did not want to carry out the murder by his own hand, asked U.S.
Resident-1 if he knew “someone [who] can do the work.” Suarez also told
U.S. Resident-1 that he had “people in Mexico” who could otherwise carry out the
murder, but they were delayed in doing so. In addition, Suarez attempted
to recruit multiple other individuals within the United States to conduct
pre-operational surveillance and murder Victim-1 and other potential
targets within the United States and offered them substantial
sums of money to carry out the targeting of the U.S. based victims.”
The Justice
Department explained that the alleged attempted murder of Victim-1 is
the latest in the RIS Network’s efforts.
“Last
year, as alleged in the indictment, the RIS Network solicited a U.S.
Citizen (U.S. Citizen-1) to surveil and murder an individual located in
Lithuania (Victim-2) who the RIS Network described as a “bad guy” who was
“telling lies about Russia.” Kirill Khrameev first recruited U.S.
Citizen-1 to travel to Victim-2’s purported address and take pictures. After
U.S. Citizen-1 accepted and completed the assignment in exchange for a promise
of $200, Kirill Khrameev introduced U.S. Citizen-1 to someone he described as
his “boss” and a “colonel,” later identified as Yuri Khrameev. Yuri Khrameev
then offered U.S. Citizen-1 approximately $25,000 to “kill him” — that is,
Victim-2. Yuri Khrameev further told U.S. Citizen-1 that they wanted
Victim-2 dead because he was “spreading dirt about my country” and “distorting
history.” Yuri Khrameev then sent U.S. Citizen-1 a photograph of Victim-2
and described that he could be murdered by “throwing a bottle of gasoline”
or “sticking a knife” in him. After U.S. Citizen-1 declined to carry out
the murder, Yuri Khrameev offered to give him a “simpler job” which could
include “set[ting] fire to a warehouse of property or food” or “throw[ing] a
bottle of gasoline at an electrical substation.” Yuri Khrameev made clear
to U.S. Citizen-1 that the purpose was to target “all the countries that are
helping Ukraine” and that he was offering “serious money for serious work.”
Finally, Yuri Khrameev confirmed that he was a “colonel of Russian
intelligence agencies.””
The
RIS Network has also allegedly recruited others to carry out acts of
terrorism overseas. Oemis Romagoza Durruthy coordinated travel and logistics
for the network. In or about June 2024, Durruthy coordinated an attack in
Prague, Czechia, including by sending another participant potential attack
sites and facilitating that participant’s travel. In or about September
2024, Durruthy coordinated another attack in Lithuania in which he booked
travel reservations for another individual involved in the attack and had
frequent and ongoing communications with an individual involved in
the attack. Durruthy also communicated with Yuri Khrameev in or about November
2025, during which Durruthy obtained media of one of Victim-1’s
dwellings, which was ultimately surveilled by U.S. Resident-1 this
year.
Yuri
Khrameev, Kirill Khrameev, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, Yaidel Delgado
Suarez, and Angel Eduardo Castro are all charged with participating in
a conspiracy to finance terrorism (Count One), which
carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Yuri Khrameev,
Suarez, and Castro are also charged with participating in a conspiracy to
commit murder for hire (Count Two), which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years
in prison.
The Counterintelligence Division of the FBI New York Field Office investigated the case, with the significant assistance of the Washington Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations.
Paul Davis, a longtime contributor to the Journal, also writes the online Threatcon column that covers crime, espionage and terrorism.
