A LockBit Developer Extradited to the United States to Face Justice
On March 13, 2025, Israel extradited Rostislav Panev, a 51-year-old Israeli-Russian national accused of being one of the developers behind the LockBit ransomware, to the United States. Israeli police had arrested him in August 2024 following a U.S. indictment. Upon arrival in the U.S., Rostislav Panev appeared before a New Jersey court to face 40 charges, all related to cyberattacks and extortion.
According to the prosecutor’s office, LockBit was “the most active and destructive ransomware group in the world.” The gang allegedly targeted over 2,500 entities across 120 countries, including 1,800 in the United States, amassing an estimated $500 million (€460 million) in ransom payments. In February 2024, an international law enforcement operation severely disrupted LockBit, seizing its infrastructure and identifying several of its members.
In total, the New Jersey court has indicted seven Russian nationals for their involvement in the ransomware gang. In addition to Rostislav Panev, two other cybercriminals, Mikhail Vasiliev and Ruslan Astamirov, are currently incarcerated in the U.S., where they pleaded guilty in 2024. Russian police arrested Mikhail Matveev (alias Wazawaka) in December 2024, but Moscow has no intention of extraditing him. The remaining three, including the gang’s alleged leader, Dimitry Khoroshev, remain at large.