The US Department of Justice has charged five alleged members of a network linked to Russian intelligence services, which is said to have recruited people in the US to carry out surveillance and commit murders.

According to the indictment, this network recruited a Venezuelan citizen living in the US last summer to surveil a well-known Russian dissident in the Washington area. He was offered $1,000 to $1,500 for surveillance and $40,000 for murder. When the recruit refused to carry out the murder himself, the alleged recruiters asked whether he knew anyone who could do it.

The indictment also alleges that the network had earlier offered a US citizen $25,000 to murder another Russian dissident in Lithuania, and that plans were discussed for attacks on power substations, warehouses, fuel storage facilities, and other infrastructure sites in NATO countries supporting Ukraine.

The five defendants include a former colonel of Russian intelligence, an alleged FSB officer, and individuals residing in Russia. All of them remain at large.

The charges are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

@IntelSlava