The FBI has warned that Russian intelligence-linked networks are plotting assassinations of Russian dissidents in the United States and attacks on civilian and military infrastructure in European countries supporting Ukraine. Authorities say they disrupted a plan to kill a prominent dissident believed to be in Washington DC, highlighting concerns that Moscow’s alleged covert operations are expanding beyond the war zone.

An indictment unsealed in Manhattan charges five people, including three alleged Russian intelligence figures, with recruiting and paying operatives since 2024 to surveil and murder targets. A Venezuelan resident in Brooklyn allegedly carried out surveillance after being offered thousands of dollars, but rejected a $40,000 payment to kill the dissident; officials also cited increasing Russian activity in countries including Poland, Lithuania and Romania.