A Russian national accused of helping orchestrate multiple ransomware attacks against US companies is expected to plead guilty later this month, according to unsealed federal court documents.
Aleksey Olegovich Volkov, 25, was arrested in Rome in 2023 and extradited to the United States earlier this year. Prosecutors say Volkov acted as an initial access broker for the Yanluowang ransomware group breaking into company networks and selling that access to other hackers.
Court filings, first reported by journalist Seamus Hughes, show that Volkov facilitated at least eight attacks, two of which led victims to pay more than $1.5 million in ransom. Volkov personally received over $256,000, prosecutors said, and made thousands more by reselling stolen credentials.
Volkov agreed to plead guilty on October 29 as part of a deal with federal prosecutors. His plea hearing is scheduled for November 25 at a federal court in Indiana, with sentencing to follow. He faces decades in prison for hacking, extortion, and related cybercrime offenses, and has agreed to pay more than $9 million in restitution to at least six victims.
According to the plea agreement, Volkov admitted to helping the Yanluowang gang between July 2021 and November 2022 by providing network access, launching DDoS attacks, and issuing threats to pressure companies into paying ransoms. The FBI traced cryptocurrency transactions linked to ransom payments back to accounts verified under his name, including an Apple ID and email address connected to the alias “chubaka.kor.”
Investigators also found evidence tying Volkov to communications with members of the LockBit ransomware group, one of the most active cybercrime operations in recent years.
The Yanluowang ransomware gang first emerged in late 2021 and quickly became notorious for targeting major Western corporations, including Cisco and Walmart. The group disbanded in 2022 after its internal chats were leaked online, revealing that members were largely based in Russia and may have had ties to the Russian Ministry of Defense.