US Uncovers Alleged Russian Assassination Network

Russia’s intelligence services planned targeted killings in the United States and in European countries that back Ukraine, US federal authorities said on Tuesday, announcing criminal charges against five people who are still at large.

An indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court said a network linked to Russian intelligence had paid, and tried to pay, people in the United States and elsewhere to surveil individuals who were then intended to be killed. It also alleged that members of the same network sought to carry out acts of terrorism against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries viewed as aligned with Ukraine.

FBI Disrupts External Assassination Plans

James Barnacle Jr, the head of the FBI’s New York office, said the bureau had interrupted the scheme through investigative work, with members of Russian intelligence services and their affiliates allegedly conspiring to intimidate, threaten or murder people on US soil and abroad.

Darren Cox, head of the FBI’s Washington DC office, said multiple FBI field offices, internal units and partner agencies had helped disrupt the threat in Washington and across the United States. He added that once the threat was identified, investigators and partners moved quickly to derail the plot and pursue accountability against the Russian state.

The authorities’ release described the alleged network as an “arm” of Russia’s wider apparatus for external attacks, including killings carried out outside the country.

Focus Shifts From Dissidents to Ukraine Backers

According to the filing, the network had been active since at least 2024 and had conspired to carry out, and carried out, attacks and murders in locations around the world, including within the United States.

The indictment said the network’s attention had previously centred on Russian dissidents and defectors. More recently, it alleged that targets had included nations regarded as allies of Ukraine.

Federal authorities said members of the network also tried to recruit people in the United States, including during a recruitment effort in the summer.

US Resident Detailed Surveillance, Refused Payment

The indictment said the network recruited a person based in the United States to monitor and kill a prominent Russian dissident believed to be living in America. Prosecutors said the recruit, identified only as “US Resident-1”, was sent to two locations associated with the intended victim and given explicit instructions on how to conduct surveillance.

Authorities said the US resident was promised between $1,000 and $1,500 for the work. After the monitoring, the person provided photographs and videos of the locations linked to the target to one of the men charged in the case.

Prosecutors said the US resident declined an offer of $40,000 to “eliminate” or “disappear” the target through murder. After that offer was rejected, the indictment alleged, the intelligence service member who had made the proposal attempted to recruit additional people within the United States by offering substantial sums of money.

European Terrorism Aimed at Infrastructure

Alongside the alleged killings, the indictment said the associates recruited in the network had been solicited to commit terrorism against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries perceived to be aligned with Ukraine.

The case was announced with an indictment listing five defendants still at large, while authorities said the FBI had disrupted the wider plan before any alleged attacks could be carried out.

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16 September 2026

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