DOJ indicts Medialand and ML.Cloud over $62m losses

So Weber • July 16, 2026 • 2 min read

The DOJ’s latest cyber crime indictment targets Russian firms Medialand and ML.Cloud for a $62 million scheme, highlighting new bulletproof hosting threats and

DOJ indicts Medialand and ML.Cloud over $62m losses - cyber crime indictment — DOJ indicts Medialand and ML.Cloud over $62m losses

The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment on July 14, 2026, naming two Russian‑based firms and three individuals for allegedly facilitating a cyber‑crime scheme that cost victims more than $62 million.

Charges and alleged conduct

Medialand LLC and ML.Cloud LLC, both headquartered in St Petersburg, are accused of providing “bulletproof hosting” services that let criminal customers spread malware, run ransomware campaigns, and launch phishing or brute‑force attacks while trying to stay hidden from law‑enforcement tools. The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Ohio, lists conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Three Russian nationals—Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik, Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, and Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova—face the same charges. Court documents show the defendants’ infrastructure was used to target 42 victims in 21 U.S. states, including banks, schools, government agencies, hospitals and media outlets.

International scope and cooperation

The prosecution notes that the hosting services operated through servers in China, Finland, the Netherlands and the United States, giving the case a clear cross‑border character. The FBI’s Cleveland Division leads the investigation, backed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the UK National Crime Agency, the Australian Federal Police and Dutch authorities.

In November 2025, OFAC imposed sanctions on the two firms in coordination with the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Department of State’s Rewards for Justice programme has posted a bounty of up to $10 million, plus possible relocation, for actionable information about the defendants or any foreign‑government involvement.

All accused parties remain innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Trial Attorney Christen Gallagher and Assistant U.S. Attorney Duncan T. Brown will oversee the case as it moves through the courts.

Law firms that advise hosting providers, cloud services, financial institutions and critical‑infrastructure operators should start reviewing their client‑due‑diligence protocols. This includes tightening sanctions screening, enhancing payment monitoring and preserving evidence that could be relevant to ongoing investigations.

Next steps will likely involve extensive data sharing between U.S. agencies and foreign counterparts. The complexity of tracing digital footprints across multiple jurisdictions means prosecutors must coordinate disclosures, secure access to logs and manage communications with bodies like OFAC and the UK’s National Crime Agency.

A careful balance between privacy rights and investigative needs will be essential. The scale of the alleged losses could set a precedent for how authorities handle cross‑border cyber‑crime networks that rely on resilient hosting services.

If convictions follow, penalties may extend beyond criminal fines to broader restrictions on the companies’ ability to operate internationally.