US Charges Russians in Bulletproof Hosting Case

Federal prosecutors in the United States have brought charges against three Russian citizens and two web hosting operators over their alleged ties to ransomware campaigns supported by bulletproof hosting infrastructure. According to the indictment, the companies provided hosting and technical support for operations that hit US companies and private sector entities in the country.

The defendants and the companies named

The Department of Justice identified the three Russian citizens as Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik, 43, Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, 34, and Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova, 29. All three were linked to Media Land LLC and ML.Cloud LLC, companies based in St. Petersburg.

The indictment says Media Land and ML.Cloud provided bulletproof hosting infrastructure for several years to ransomware operations associated with the LockBit, BlackSuit, and Play families. That setup allowed malicious services and infrastructure to stay online even after complaints or efforts to take them down.

Scope of the alleged damage

According to the news summary of the indictment, US authorities estimate economic losses of about USD 57 million to USD 62 million tied to these campaigns. The court filing, according to documentation cited by specialized media, lists 42 victims in 21 US states, including banks, hospitals, schools, and local governments.

That network of impact, according to the documents referenced by the sources, reached US companies and other private sector entities. The hosting infrastructure described in the indictment would have been used to sustain the criminal campaigns and make them harder to disrupt.

Charges and sanctions

On the criminal side, the three defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit and facilitate computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, substantive wire fraud, and conspiracy to launder money. The Justice Department action was also coordinated with OFAC financial sanctions in a trilateral framework involving the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, aimed at both the accused individuals and Media Land and ML.Cloud.

Russian local media noted that the US Justice Department said in its statement that an indictment is only an allegation, and that all people and companies named are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a US court.