Afghanistan and U.S. officials reportedly identified a key middle man involved in an operation by a Russian spy unit to give bounties for U.S. soldiers.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Rahmatullah Azizi, an Afghan contractor, was named in intelligence reports as instrumental to the plot to pay Taliban-connected militants in Afghanistan to kill U.S. troops. Azizi reportedly distributed money from a Russian military unit to Taliban-linked fighters who targeted American soldiers.