Ukrainian REvil Member Sentenced to Almost 14 Years in U.S. Prison
Yaroslav Vasinskyi, a 24-year-old Ukrainian national linked to the REvil (Sodinokibi) ransomware attack on Kaseya’s servers in 2021, has been sentenced to 13 years and seven months in prison and ordered to pay $16 million in restitution.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Vasinskyi was known online as MrRabotnik (as well as Profcomserv, Rabotnik, Rabotnik_New, Yarik45, Yaraslav2468, and Affiliate 22). Since 2019, he had been hacking companies worldwide—carrying out at least 2,500 attacks in total—and deploying REvil malware within their infrastructures. The hackers demanded ransoms from victims totaling over $700 million.
“Yaroslav Vasinskyi and his co-conspirators hacked thousands of computers around the world and encrypted them with ransomware,” the Department of Justice stated. “They then demanded more than $700 million in ransom and threatened to publicly release victims’ data if the ransom was not paid.”
Vasinskyi was arrested in October 2021, based on a U.S. warrant, while attempting to enter Poland. He was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, intentional damage to a protected computer, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Authorities linked the REvil operators to the attack on Kaseya, which is considered one of the largest ransomware incidents in history. In 2021, clients of the MSP solutions provider Kaseya suffered a massive ransomware attack. The hackers exploited zero-day vulnerabilities in Kaseya’s VSA product to target its users. Patches for these vulnerabilities were released soon after.
The main issue was that most affected VSA servers were used by MSP providers—companies that manage infrastructure for other clients. This allowed the attackers to deploy ransomware across thousands of corporate networks. Official reports state that about 60 Kaseya clients were compromised, and through their infrastructure, the hackers managed to encrypt more than 1,500 corporate networks.
In March 2022, Vasinskyi was extradited to the United States to stand trial for at least nine ransomware attacks on American organizations. The maximum possible sentence for all charges was 115 years in prison, along with the forfeiture of all property and financial assets.
Ultimately, Vasinskyi pleaded guilty to 11 counts and has now been sentenced to 13 years and seven months in prison. He is also required to pay $16 million in restitution.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of 39.89138522 bitcoins and $6.1 million connected to ransomware payments and hacker operations involving Vasinskyi.