A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Ohio has indicted three Russian nationals and two of their “bulletproof hosting” companies for allegedly facilitating cyberattacks that caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to U.S. victims.
The indictment, which was returned in December 2024 and unsealed today, charges Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik, 43, Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, 34, and Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova, 29, all of St. Petersburg, Russia. The charges also name two St. Petersburg-based entities: Medialand LLC and ML.Cloud LLC. All five defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Following the unsealing, the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program announced a reward of up to $10 million, along with potential relocation, for actionable information regarding foreign government-linked associates of the defendants, their malicious activities, or foreign government-linked use of the two companies. This follows U.S. sanctions imposed on the defendants in November 2025.
According to court documents, Medialand LLC, owned by Volosovik, and ML.Cloud, owned by Pankova at the time of the investigation, provided computer servers and internet services. While based in Russia, Medialand’s infrastructure also operated out of China, Finland, the Netherlands, and the United States.
Prosecutors allege these businesses operated as “bulletproof hosts,” which are services that knowingly market and lease infrastructure to cybercriminals to help them evade law enforcement. The indictment states that Volosovik advertised these services on criminal forums, highlighting features designed to assist illicit activities. The infrastructure was allegedly used by clients to distribute malware and ransomware, support criminal marketplaces, register fraudulent domains, and launch phishing and brute-force attacks.
Investigators identified 42 victims across 21 U.S. states. The affected entities include banks, schools, government agencies, hospitals, and media companies.
“From their overseas haven, these defendants ran the criminal infrastructure that powered attacks on critical institutions across our nation,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Their actions put the American public at risk. We will continue to dismantle these networks and protect our critical infrastructure from cybercriminals at home and abroad.”
U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio noted the broad reach of the alleged conspiracy. “The victims in this case are not only in Ohio, but also in 20 other states across the country, touching every aspect of Americans’ lives,” Toepfer said. “Together with our international partners, we will aggressively combat the efforts of individuals who hide behind computers anywhere in the world who seek to profit and wreak havoc by targeting the infrastructures that support our communities.”
Federal officials emphasized that the operation targets the core technical resources that enable digital attacks.
“With today’s actions, the FBI and our partners are striking at the core services that cybercriminals rely on to attack U.S. critical infrastructure,” said Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI’s Cyber Division. “Media Land has enabled malicious activity causing tens of millions in losses and impacting victims across 21 states and multiple countries.”
Special Agent in Charge Josh DelManzo of the FBI Cleveland Field Office added that the case highlights the necessity of international cooperation. “Today’s announcement underscores the importance of global partnerships and international collaboration, especially in a borderless world riddled with cyber criminals,” DelManzo said.
Gharun Lacy, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Assistant Director of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service for Cyber & Technology Security, stated, “We remain relentless in our efforts to generate information that helps our law enforcement partners disrupt campaigns against our national interest and bring these malicious cyber actors to justice.”
The case is part of “Operation Riptide,” an ongoing FBI campaign targeting cybercrime networks and financial infrastructures. The FBI reported that Americans lost more than $20 billion to cybercrime last year, marking a 26 percent increase over the previous year.
The criminal investigation is being led by the FBI Cleveland Division, with support from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). International assistance was provided by the National Police and Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Australian Federal Police and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The November 2025 OFAC sanctions, which block all U.S. property and prohibit transactions by U.S. persons, were fully joined by the United Kingdom and partially joined by Australia. These sanctions targeted Volosovik, Zatolokin, and Pankova individually, alongside Medialand LLC, its subsidiaries Media Land Technology and Data Center Kirishi, and ML.Cloud.
The prosecution is being handled by Trial Attorney Christen Gallagher of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Duncan T. Brown for the Northern District of Ohio. Since 2020, CCIPS has secured convictions against more than 180 cyber and intellectual property criminals, recovering over $350 million in victim funds.
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