An indictment has been unsealed in the Northern District of Ohio charging three Russian nationals and two related “bulletproof hosting” companies for their roles in cybercrimes against U.S. victims, causing tens of millions of dollars in losses.

The indictment, returned in December 2024, charges Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik, 43, of St. Petersburg, Russia; Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, 34, of St. Petersburg, Russia; Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova, 29, of St. Petersburg, Russia;
Medialand LLC, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia, and ML.Cloud LLC, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia, with conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The indictment was unsealed on Tuesday.

In addition to the unsealing of the indictment, the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) programme announced that it was offering a reward of up to $10 million and possible relocation for actionable information on foreign government-linked associates of Pankova, Volosovik and Zatolokin, their malicious cyber activities, or foreign government-linked use of Media Land or ML.Cloud. U.S. sanctions were announced in November 2025 against the indicted defendants and companies.

According to allegations in court documents, Medialand LLC (owned by Mr Volosovik) and ML.Cloud (at the time of the investigation and indictment, owned by Ms Pankova) were based in St. Petersburg, Russia, and provided infrastructure, including computer servers and related internet services.

Medialand’s infrastructure also operated out of multiple countries, including China, Finland, the Netherlands, and the United States. These businesses provided what are known as “bulletproof hosting” services that enabled clients to not only conduct criminal activities but also evade detection by law enforcement.

“Such businesses knowingly and intentionally market and/or lease their infrastructure to cybercriminals,” the U.S. government said.

According to the indictment, Mr Volosovik advertised their services on criminal forums, touting features and services advantageous to cybercriminals. Medialand and ML.Cloud provided criminal client co-conspirators with the means to infect victims’ computers with malware and ransomware, and then extort them for money and cryptocurrency.

Other computer-based crimes facilitated by Medialand and ML.Cloud included support for criminal marketplaces, registration of fraudulent domains, and a platform from which to launch phishing and brute-force attacks.

According to the indictment, 42 victims in 21 states were targeted by criminal groups who used Medialand’s and ML.Cloud’s services.

“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. They include banks, schools, government entities, hospitals, and media companies,” said U.S. attorney David Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio.

Assistant director Brett Leatherman of the FBI Cyber Division disclosed that Media Land enabled “malicious activity causing tens of millions in losses and impacting victims across 21 states and multiple countries”.