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US Charges Russian Individuals and Firms for Running Cybercrime Services

The suspects and their companies were previously sanctioned by the United States and its allies.

Russian hackers

The US Justice Department on Tuesday unsealed an indictment charging three Russian nationals and two companies for allegedly running cybercrime services.

The individuals are Aleksandr Alexandrovich Volosovik, Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, and Yulia Pankova, and the targeted companies are ML.Cloud and Media Land, whose infrastructure spanned countries such as China, the Netherlands, Finland, and even the United States.

The three suspects are accused of running ML.Cloud and Media Land, which allegedly provided bulletproof hosting services to a wide range of threat actors, including profit-driven gangs and state-sponsored groups. 

[ Read: Synopsys Finds No Evidence of Data Breach Amid Bosch Hack Claims ]

ML.Cloud and Media Land infrastructure was used for phishing, DDoS attacks, brute-force attacks, ransomware, and hosting cybercrime marketplaces and forums, according to the DOJ.

Authorities said threat actors leveraged the two services to target at least 42 entities across 21 US states, overall causing tens of millions of dollars in losses.

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The indictment targeting Volosovik, Zatolokin, and Pankova was returned in December 2024, but it was only unsealed now. However, this is not the first time the names of the suspects and their companies have been made public.

In late 2025, the United States and its allies announced sanctions against them, along with other individuals and companies tied to criminal activities.

The US also announced on Tuesday that it’s offering a reward of up to $10 million and possible relocation for information on the ML.Cloud and Media Land operators.

Reward for ML.Cloud and Media Land operators
Reward for ML.Cloud and Media Land operators

While it’s not common for Russian bulletproof hosting administrators to be sentenced to prison in the United States, it’s not unheard of either. 

Related: Admins of Bulletproof Hosting Service Used by Russian Hackers Arrested in Netherlands

Related: Russian Cybercrime Network Targeted for Sanctions Across US, UK and Australia

Related: Third US Security Expert Sentenced to Prison for Helping Ransomware Gang

Written By

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is senior managing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher before starting a career in journalism in 2011. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.

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