DOJ charges Russian intel network with conspiracy to finance terrorism, commit murder for hire in US

The Justice Department on Tuesday announced charges against five individuals working for Russian Federation intelligence services who are alleged to have conducted attacks and murders around the world, including in the U.S. Among other things, the defendants are alleged to have paid and attempted to pay individuals in the U.S. and elsewhere to conduct surveillance and carry out targeted killings, according to the indictment. 
The indictment also alleges the network commissioned associates to commit and attempted to commit acts of terrorism against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries that are aligned, or perceived to be aligned, with Ukraine. 
The defendants have not yet been apprehended. 
“We will not tolerate efforts to finance terrorist activities and engage in acts of violence—particularly when these activities are commissioned by state actors and touch American soil,” Jamie McDonald, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. 
One individual in the network, Yaidel Delgado Suarez, from Cuba, allegedly recruited a person based in the U.S. to surveil and murder a prominent Russian dissident who the network believed resided in the U.S. After paying the person for the surveillance, Suarez asked the associate to murder the victim, but he refused. The defendant then asked if he could help find someone who could, according to the indictment. 
If convicted, the defendants face sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years in prison. 

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