A court in the Southern District of Indiana sentenced Russian citizen Aleksei Volkov, 26, to 81 months in prison Monday for assisting major cybercrime groups including the Yanluowang ransomware group in attacks that caused over $9 million in actual losses and over $24 million in intended losses across the United States.
On November 25, 2025, Volkov pleaded guilty to four counts from the Southern District of Indiana indictment—unlawful transfer of a means of identification, trafficking in access information, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft—plus two counts from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania indictment for conspiracy to commit computer fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Police in Rome, Italy, had arrested Volkov before his extradition to the United States.
As part of his plea agreement, Volkov admitted that he and co-conspirators "demanded tens of millions of dollars in ransom and received millions," with Volkov receiving a share of cryptocurrency ransom payments. The court ordered him to pay full restitution including almost $9.2 million to known victims and to forfeit equipment used in his crimes.
Ransomware and crypto
