A network linked to the Russian authorities (RIS) planned the assassination of opposition figures, including former world chess champion Garry Kasparov. The network also planned the assassination of former Duma deputy Ilya Ponomaryov and dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, who support Ukraine in its war with Russia.
This is what the Spanish newspaper "El Mundo" claims, citing sources, including people from the opposition environment.
In September, the FBI and other US agencies announced the discovery of a Russian Interceptor Network (RIS) that they claim included 63-year-old former FSB colonel Yuri Khrameyev, also known as "Colonel Yuri", his son Kirill Khrameyev, 27, an officer in the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Cuban citizen Oemis Romagosa Durruti, 35, who lives in Russia, Cuban citizen Yaydel Delgado Suarez, also known as "Viking", 35, and Venezuelan citizen Angel Eduardo Castro, 22.
The latter participated, along with Suarez, in recruiting individuals residing in the United States for the purpose of surveillance and attempted assassination of a prominent Russian dissident residing in the United States, the Department of Justice said in a statement.
According to the US Department of Justice, the individuals in question recruited paid individuals to spy on and kill two people in the United States and one in Lithuania.
Kasparov, a Croatian national, lives primarily in the United States. El Mundo reports that in the summer of 2026, American authorities informed him that he was the target of an assassination plot by the Kremlin. Thus, for the first time since his move to New York in 2013, Kasparov was placed under special protection.
The plot to kill Ponomarev, who divides his time between Kiev and Washington, "went even further," according to the publication. He has a residence and office in Washington, which function as the American branch of his political platform, the Congress of People's Deputies, which Russia declared a "terrorist" organization in December 2025. The Spanish newspaper believes Ponomarev could be "Victim 1" named by the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to US authorities, Suarez and Castro offered the American $40,000 to “kill” him, but he refused. Suarez also tried to recruit several others to kill “Victim 1” and others. “This is already the ninth assassination attempt,” a source close to Ponomarev told the BBC, adding that he could not “comment on the details.” ©LAPSI.al
