From Fox News · Morgan Phillips · · 2m
Russian spies accused of $40K murder plot in D.C.
U.S. prosecutors charge five Russian intelligence operatives with orchestrating a murder-for-hire scheme targeting a Kremlin critic in Washington.
In brief
U.S. prosecutors charge five Russian intelligence operatives with orchestrating a murder-for-hire scheme targeting a Kremlin critic in Washington. Russian intelligence services are actively recruiting people inside the U.S. to carry out assassinations of political opponents, marking a rare instance of direct…
Russian spies charged with murder plot
Federal prosecutors unsealed charges against five Russian intelligence operatives accused of orchestrating a murder-for-hire scheme targeting a Kremlin critic in Washington, D.C. The conspiracy is part of a broader global network recruiting people to carry out assassinations and terrorist attacks for Moscow.
Forty thousand dollar hit in the capital
Russian operatives directed a Venezuelan U.S. resident to surveil two Washington-area locations tied to a Kremlin critic in late August, then offered him $40,000 to kill the target. The recruit completed the surveillance but refused to commit the murder.
Coded language and detailed instructions
Prosecutors say the recruiter instructed the operative to put his phone in airplane mode, record before entering the neighborhood, slow as he passed the target's home, and delete messages afterward. The conspirators used coded language, calling the assassination "construction" and surveillance "measuring a plot of land."
Network sought backup recruits
When the recruit refused to carry out the murder, prosecutors allege the network sought other U.S.-based recruits while noting it also had "people in Mexico" available for the job. The indictment names five defendants, including a former Russian intelligence colonel and his son in the FSB.
Broader campaign since 2024
Prosecutors say the Washington murder plot was part of a much broader Russian intelligence campaign operating since at least 2024. The same network recruited a U.S. citizen in Lithuania to surveil another Kremlin critic and allegedly offered about $25,000 to kill him.
Shift to sabotage in Ukraine-aligned nations
After recruits refused to carry out killings, prosecutors say the network shifted to soliciting sabotage attacks against infrastructure in countries supporting Ukraine, including alleged plots targeting electrical substations, warehouses and transportation hubs.
Pattern of Russian targeting abroad
Russia has repeatedly been accused of targeting political opponents and defectors abroad. The 2018 poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in England with nerve agent Novichok was blamed on Russian military intelligence, though Moscow denied it.
The main idea
Russian intelligence services are actively recruiting people inside the U.S. to carry out assassinations of political opponents, marking a rare instance of direct recruitment on American soil.
