17 September 2026 , 16:41
490
0
A newly unsealed U.S. federal indictment reveals that a Russian intelligence network allegedly orchestrated a targeted attack in Prague in June 2024, as part of a sprawling, Kremlin-backed assassination and sabotage campaign across Europe and the United States.
The indictment’s details align directly with a known physical attack from June 2024, when a Spanish-speaking South American national was arrested for attempting to set fire to a Prague public transport bus depot. At the time, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala explicitly linked the incident to Moscow, stating on social media: "The unsuccessful arson attack on the buses of the Prague transport company was likely organized and financed by Russia."
Despite the U.S. charges identifying the handlers behind that attack, local law enforcement’s response remains guarded. Colonel Ondřej Moravčík, spokesman for the Czech Police Presidium, told OCCRP police are not conducting any proceedings directly related to the U.S. case and have not implemented new measures.
Spokeswoman for the Czech Interior Ministry, Ivana Nguyenová, declined to address the U.S. investigation, noting only that security services continuously monitor unusual activity.
The U.S. charges target five individuals accused of operating the "RIS Network" on behalf of Russian intelligence. The network paid operatives to conduct surveillance for targeted killings and commissioned terrorism against infrastructure in countries aligned with Ukraine. All five defendants remain at large and face up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to finance terrorism.
The alleged leadership includes Yuri Khrameev, 63, a former Russian intelligence colonel; his son, Kirill Khrameev, 27, an active Federal Security Service (FSB) officer; and Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, 35, an influential Cuban national residing in Russia. Two U.S.-focused recruiters, Yaidel Delgado Suarez, 35, and Angel Eduardo Castro, 22, face an additional 10-year maximum sentence alongside Yuri Khrameev for murder-for-hire charges.
The Prague bus depot arson was allegedly coordinated by Durruthy, who handled logistics for the network. While based in Russia, Durruthy transferred over $1,000 in cryptocurrency and booked hotels in Poland and Czechia for the physical attacker—identified in the indictment as "Associate-1"—ahead of the operation.
According to reporting by the Czech news outlet Novinky.cz, Associate-1 is Andrés Alfonso de la Hoz de la Cruz, a 26-year-old Colombian national who pleaded guilty and was sentenced in June 2025 to eight years in prison for the Prague attack. Durruthy’s logistical support continued through the fall, coordinating a separate attack in Lithuania in September 2024.
Meanwhile, other network members plotted assassinations. This past summer, Suarez and Castro allegedly recruited a U.S.-based individual, identified as "U.S. Resident-1," to surveil a prominent Russian dissident in the United States, identified as "Victim-1." After paying the recruit for photos and videos, the handlers offered $40,000 to "eliminate" Victim-1 and claimed they had backup hitmen in Mexico.
A year prior, the Khrameevs allegedly attempted a similar assassination in Lithuania. Kirill Khrameev, according to the DOJ indictment, paid a U.S. citizen, identified as "U.S. Citizen-1," $200 to photograph the address of a Russian critic, identified as "Victim-2." Then, "Colonel Yuri" offered U.S. Citizen-1 $25,000 to murder Victim-2 with a "bottle of gasoline" or a knife. When U.S. Citizen-1 refused, Khrameev offered "simpler jobs" like firebombing NATO electrical substations.
"I am offering serious money for serious work," Khrameev wrote, adding he was "interested in all the countries that are helping Ukraine."
World Affairs Correspondent