DOJ charges 3 Russian nationals in scheme powering cyberattacks on U.S.

A federal indictment unsealed in the Northern District of Ohio charges three Russian nationals and two “bulletproof hosting” companies with running infrastructure that allegedly facilitated cyberattacks against U.S. victims, causing tens of millions of dollars in losses, according to the Justice Department.

The indictment, returned in December 2024, names Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik, 43; Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, 34; and Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova, 29, all of St. Petersburg, Russia, along with the companies Medialand LLC and ML.Cloud LLC, prosecutors said. The defendants face charges including conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to court documents.

Alongside the unsealing, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced it is offering a reward of up to $10 million and possible relocation for actionable information about foreign government-linked associates of the three defendants, their malicious cyber activities, or foreign government-linked use of Medialand or ML.Cloud, officials said. The U.S. announced sanctions against the defendants and companies in November 2025.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said the defendants ran criminal infrastructure “that powered attacks on critical institutions across our nation” from overseas. U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio said victims spanned Ohio and 20 other states, including banks, schools, government entities, hospitals and media companies.

According to the indictment, Medialand and ML.Cloud provided so-called “bulletproof hosting” services, leasing servers and infrastructure to cybercriminals while helping them evade law enforcement detection. Volosovik advertised the services on criminal forums, and the companies allegedly enabled malware and ransomware attacks, phishing schemes, brute-force attacks and fraudulent domain registrations, prosecutors said. Court documents allege 42 victims across 21 states were targeted by criminal groups using the companies’ services.

FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Brett Leatherman said the action strikes at “the core services that cybercriminals rely on,” while FBI Cleveland Special Agent in Charge Josh DelManzo emphasized the role of international partnerships in the case.

The November 2025 Treasury Department sanctions were joined in full by the United Kingdom and in part by Australia, according to the release. The FBI’s Cleveland Division led the investigation with assistance from CISA, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and government and law enforcement partners in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia.

The case is part of Operation Riptide, an ongoing FBI campaign targeting cybercrime infrastructure, as Americans reported more than $20 billion in cybercrime losses last year, a 26% increase, officials said.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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