The United States Department of State announced a reward of 10 million dollars for information that leads to the location of three Russian citizens accused of operating technological infrastructure used to launch ransomware attacks and other malicious cyber activities against critical infrastructure in the United States.
The accused are Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik (43 years old, known by the alias "Yalishanda"), Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin (34 years old), and Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova (29 years old), all three originally from St. Petersburg, Russia.
U.S. authorities have declassified the criminal charges filed by the Northern District of Ohio Prosecutor's Office, accusing the three of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit electronic fraud, electronic fraud, and conspiracy to launder money.
According to the statement from the U.S. government, the three "helped facilitate criminal cyber activities against critical infrastructure in the U.S. that affected victims in 21 states and several countries, resulting in losses amounting to tens of millions of dollars."
The Justice Department's report specifies that the losses exceed 62 million dollars and that among the victims are banks, schools, government entities, hospitals, and media companies throughout the United States.
Volosovik and Pankova are identified as owners and executives of the companies Media Land LLC and ML.Cloud LLC, respectively, both based in St. Petersburg.
These companies offered "bulletproof" hosting services—infrastructure specifically designed to withstand detection and dismantling attempts by law enforcement, employing the use of shell companies, anonymous domain registrations, and rapid IP address rotation techniques.
This infrastructure was exploited by ransomware groups such as LockBit, BlackSuit, and Play to carry out their attacks.
Volosovik, in particular, maintained direct contact with Dmitry Khoroshev, alias "Lockbitsupp", the sanctioned administrator of the LockBit group, recognized as one of the most harmful in the world in recent years.
The formal charges against Volosovik, Zatolokin, and Pankova signify a shift from administrative sanctions to direct criminal prosecution, with the $10 million reward serving as a tool to pressure for information on the whereabouts of the three Russians.
Additionally, the reward is offered under the Rewards for Justice program of the Department of State, which accepts information through encrypted channels, including an address on the Tor network, and provides payment in cryptocurrency.
This announcement comes in the context of ongoing pressure from Washington against cybercrime networks linked to Russia. In April of this year, the FBI executed Operation Masquerade, which dismantled a Russian GRU espionage network in more than 23 states across the country.
The declassification of the criminal charges represents an escalation compared to the measures already taken: in November 2025, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia imposed coordinated sanctions against the three individuals and their companies, which included asset freezes, travel bans, and financial penalties.
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