U.S. offers $10 million reward for three Russians in cybercrime crackdown
U.S. prosecutors unsealed charges against three Russians and two firms, then posted a $10 million reward for tips tied to ransomware damage in 21 states.
Federal prosecutors unsealed charges against three St. Petersburg, Russia, residents and two companies on July 14, pairing the case with a $10 million reward for information that could help identify, locate or capture them.
The indictment, returned in December 2024 after a seven-year investigation, names Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik, 43, Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, 34, and Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova, 29, along with Media Land, LLC and ML.Cloud, LLC. Prosecutors charged them with conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in the Northern District of Ohio.
The scheme caused more than $62 million in victim losses. The affected victims were spread across 21 states and several countries, with banks, schools, government entities, hospitals and media companies among those named. Rewards for Justice put Media Land's role at hundreds of malicious cyber activities between 2016 and 2024 that contributed to at least $61 million in damages.
Media Land and ML.Cloud were bulletproof hosting providers, a kind of cybercrime infrastructure built to hide the source of malicious traffic and keep operations online. The companies were used by ransomware groups including LockBit, BlackSuit and Play, and also supported phishing, brute-force attacks, criminal-forum hosting and distributed-denial-of-service attacks. The indictment identifies Media Land as also operating out of China, Russia, Finland, the Netherlands and the United States before reappearing in St. Petersburg.
The reward covers information tied to foreign government-linked associates and foreign government-linked use of Media Land or ML.Cloud, and it includes possible relocation assistance for actionable tips. U.S. officials announced coordinated sanctions on Nov. 19, 2025, with Australia and the United Kingdom targeting Media Land, ML.Cloud, Volosovik and Zatolokin over their role in ransomware infrastructure.
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