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Yaroslav Vasinskyi, a Ukrainian national, was arrested by Polish authorities on October 8, 2021, after crossing from Ukraine at the Dorohusk border stop. The United States sought his extradition over alleged Sodinokibi (REvil) ransomware attacks, including the July 2021 Kaseya incident. Poland later extradited him to the United States in March 2022; the U.S. Department of Justice reported that he pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2024.
What happened at the Polish border?
CyberScoop reported on November 2, 2021, citing Polish court documents, that Vasinskyi was 22 when he was arrested at the Dorohusk crossing on October 8. He had just crossed from Ukraine into Poland. The report said U.S. authorities were seeking his extradition and that Vasinskyi denied the allegations in an interview with Polish prosecutors.
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In a November 8, 2021 statement, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said: “Two months after the indictment, on October 8, Vasinskyi crossed the border from Ukraine into Poland. There, upon our request, Polish authorities arrested him pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant. We have now requested that he be extradited from Poland to the United States pursuant to the extradition treaty between our countries.” That statement described the position at the time; it was not the final outcome of the case.
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Why did the United States seek extradition?
The Justice Department said Vasinskyi was taken into custody under a provisional arrest warrant while extradition proceedings proceeded under the U.S.–Poland extradition treaty. An August 2021 U.S. indictment accused him of ransomware offenses associated with the Sodinokibi, also known as REvil, operation.
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The alleged ransomware conduct
According to the Justice Department, the charged attacks encrypted victims’ data and demanded cryptocurrency payments. In some cases, attackers allegedly copied data and threatened to publish it or make it available to third parties if a victim refused to pay. The indictment included the July 2021 Kaseya incident, in which ransomware deployed through Kaseya’s VSA management software affected organizations using the platform.
The 2021 allegations were charges, not a finding of guilt. The Justice Department stated that defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Vasinskyi’s later guilty plea changed the procedural status of his own case, but it does not establish every claim ever made about the broader REvil group.
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Was Vasinskyi extradited to the United States?
Yes. The Justice Department later reported that Poland extradited Vasinskyi and that he arrived in Dallas on March 3, 2022. He made an initial appearance and was arraigned in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on March 9, 2022.
| Stage | Date | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Border arrest | October 8, 2021 | Polish authorities arrested Vasinskyi at Dorohusk after he crossed from Ukraine, according to the contemporaneous report and later official accounts. |
| U.S. extradition request | November 2021 | The United States requested extradition under its treaty with Poland while Vasinskyi was held in Polish proceedings. |
| Extradition and arrival | March 3, 2022 | Poland sent Vasinskyi to the United States; he arrived in Dallas. |
| Initial appearance and arraignment | March 9, 2022 | He appeared in the Northern District of Texas. |
| Guilty plea and sentence | 2024 | The Justice Department reported that he pleaded guilty to the 11-count indictment and was sentenced. |
What was the later case outcome?
In 2024, the Justice Department reported that Vasinskyi pleaded guilty to an 11-count indictment and was sentenced for his role in the Sodinokibi/REvil ransomware scheme. The department described the broader conduct as involving thousands of ransomware attacks and more than $700 million in ransom demands. That figure describes the wider scheme, not money shown to have been personally received by Vasinskyi.
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How large was the REvil operation?
Some figures cited by U.S. officials concern REvil as a group rather than Vasinskyi individually:
- In 2021, Attorney General Garland said REvil had been deployed on approximately 175,000 computers worldwide.
- Garland also said at least $200 million in ransom had been paid in connection with REvil.
- The Justice Department’s 2024 sentencing announcement described more than $700 million in ransom demands across the broader scheme.
None of those figures should be presented as Vasinskyi’s personal victim count, ransom proceeds or independent proof of every operation attributed to REvil.
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Why the original headline can be misleading today
“The U.S. seeks extradition” accurately described the situation reported in November 2021, when Vasinskyi was detained in Poland and the extradition process was pending. It is outdated as a description of his current procedural status: he was extradited in 2022 and later pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2024.
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