Three Russian nationals have been charged by the US Department of Justice for allegedly running a cybercrime operation that cost Americans more than $62 million. The December 2024 indictment, unsealed this week by the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, paints a picture of a sophisticated hosting infrastructure purpose-built to shield some of the world’s most prolific ransomware operators.
Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik, 43, Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, 34, and Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova, 29, allegedly ran two St. Petersburg-based companies, Media Land, LLC and ML.Cloud, LLC, that prosecutors say conducted “malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure.” Victims spanned 21 states.
The bulletproof hosting playbook
Media Land reportedly emerged in 2015 as a prominent player in Russia’s bulletproof hosting market, though Volosovik, who allegedly goes by the alias “Yalishanda,” has been a figure in that space since around 2009-2010. The companies provided the digital backbone for ransomware groups including LockBit and BlackSuit, two names that have become synonymous with large-scale extortion campaigns targeting hospitals, schools, and critical infrastructure.
