Russia 'is plotting assassinations in US and European countries supporting Ukraine'

The FBI has issued a stark new warning that Russia is plotting targeted assassinations across the US and in European countries that support Ukraine.It comes as the agency revealed on Tuesday that they'd thwarted a plot to kill a prominent Russian dissident believed to be living in Washington DC.Five people assumed to be living abroad were charged in the plot, according to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court. It said a network of the Russian intelligence services had paid and tried to pay individuals in the US and in other countries since 2024 to surveil and then kill Russian dissidents.The associates recruited by the network have also been solicited to carry out acts of terrorism against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries that are perceived to be aligned with Ukraine, the indictment said.James C. Barnacle Jr., head of New York's FBI office, said the agency disrupted the plans 'through relentless work' as members of the intelligence services and their affiliates 'conspired to intimidate, threaten, or murder people on US soil and around the world.'Darren B. Cox, head of the Washington DC office of the FBI, in a release cited 'extraordinary work by multiple FBI field offices, components, and partner agencies' and said they 'moved quickly to disrupt the plot.' Western officials have argued that Moscow's targeting of European states has increased in recent months (Pictured: Vladimir Putin)US Attorney Jamie McDonald said in the release that the Russian-led network said the people charged in the foiled plot 'conspired to cause destruction and mayhem around the world, including right here in the United States.'Among those charged in the indictment were three high-ranking members of the Russian intelligence services, authorities said. They were identified as Yuri Khrameev, a former colonel in the Russian intelligence services, his son, Kirill Khrameev, an officer in the Federal Security Service of Russia, and Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a Cuban national and an influential member of the Cuban diaspora living in Russia. The indictment said the Federal Security Service is Russia's principal security agency and the successor agency to the former Soviet Union's Committee for State Security, which was known as the KGB.Yuri Khrameev and two others charged in the indictment - Yaidel Delgado Suarez and Angel Eduardo Castro, both living in Russia - recruited a Venezuelan citizen living in Brooklyn to surveil and murder a prominent Russian dissident they believed to be residing in Washington, DC, the indictment said.It said the Brooklyn resident was sent to two locations associated with the targeted victim and was given 'explicit instructions on how to conduct surveillance' while being promised $1,000 and $1,500 to carry out the work.After conducting the surveillance and providing multiple photographs and videos of locations associated with the intended victim, the US resident turned down the $40,000 that was offered to 'eliminate' or 'disappear' the target through murder, authorities said.When the offer was rejected, the member of the intelligence services who made it offered multiple other people within the US substantial amounts of money to finish the job, the indictment said.It comes as Western officials have argued that Moscow's targeting of European states has increased in recent months as the front line in Ukraine has become largely static.Countries close to Russia including Poland, Lithuania and Romania have confirmed various violations, but the Kremlin's shadow war has also spread throughout the continent.Security expert and journalist Philip Ingram told the Daily Mail that these types of attacks are likely to become increasingly common, building on tactics Russia has already used. A police officer in protective clothing works at Leipzig/Halle Airport These include assassinations and the use of nerve agents such as Novichok, as well as radiological weapons such as Polonium-210 on the streets of London.He also pointed to suspected sabotage in warehouses in London and the use of explosives on drones at Leipzig Airport, alongside unexplained drone activity near Ireland, over US Air Force bases in the UK and above critical infrastructure and military sites across Germany, Denmark, Sweden and other European countries.There have also been direct threats against the CEOs of arms companies in Scandinavia and Germany, as well as threats against British companies helping to supply Ukraine, while cyber attacks have become another increasingly prominent tool in Russia's arsenal.Ingram said that Europe can expect to see a growing wave of these shadow war attacks because ‘the West, NATO, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States haven’t responded robustly to the Russians.’'I think we need to be more aggressive in the way we're dealing with Russia.'We need to be imposing even greater sanctions against what Russia's doing. We should be increasing our support to Ukraine because the only way to properly stop Putin is to topple Putin.'