DOJ accuses Russian group of running assassination network

The Department of Justice on Tuesday accused five people of running a global assassination network through Russia's intelligence services. The group is charged with attempting to recruit, and in some cases, actually paying individuals to conduct surveillance and carry out targeted killings against Russian dissidents, according to an unsealed indictment. The group was active within the United States and other countries, prosecutors said. The DOJ charged a 63-year-old former Russian intelligence colonel, a Russian security service officer, and his son, two Cubans, and one Venezuelan.

The group conspired to cause destruction and mayhem around the world, U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said in a statement. Their acts were brazen, aggressive, and far-reaching, added McDonald, who is assigned to the Southern District of New York. All five individuals were believed to be in Russia and remain at large, the DOJ said. If arrested, they face conspiracy to finance terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder for hire charges. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

What were their alleged crimes? U.S. authorities accuse the group of two murder-for-hire plots. The federal indictment states that one Venezuelan operative and one of the Cuban operatives recruited and paid a Brooklyn resident to take photos and videos of a Russian dissident earlier this year. They allegedly offered the Brooklyn individual $40,000 to make the dissident disappear. The Brooklyn resident recorded the footage but was unwilling to kill the individual, according to the indictment.

Additionally, the Russian nationals of the group are accused of trying to recruit a U.S. citizen in Lithuania to kill an individual there. They offered to pay the U.S. citizen $25,000 to assassinate someone who supposedly told lies about Russia, the DOJ said. The U.S. citizen and Brooklyn resident weren’t identified by the DOJ.