Russian national Ruslan Magomedovich Astamirov was arrested in Arizona and charged by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly deploying LockBit ransomware on the networks of victims in the United States and abroad. According to the criminal complaint, the 20-year-old suspect from the Chechen Republic was allegedly involved in LockBit ransomware attacks between August 2020 and March 2023.
“Astamirov allegedly participated in a conspiracy with other members of the LockBit ransomware campaign to commit wire fraud and to intentionally damage protected computers and make ransom demands through the use and deployment of ransomware,” US DOJ said.
Astamirov is the third LockBit affiliate the U.S. Justice Department charged in the last seven months.
In May 2023, Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev was also charged for his alleged involvement in deploying LockBit, Babuk, and Hive ransomware in attacks targeting organizations within and outside the United States.
“Astamirov is the third defendant charged by this office in the LockBit global ransomware campaign, and the second defendant to be apprehended,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey.
“The LockBit conspirators and any other ransomware perpetrators cannot hide behind imagined online anonymity. We will continue to work tirelessly with all our law enforcement partners to identify ransomware perpetrators and bring them to justice.”
