Basketball player arrested for alleged ransomware ties freed in Russia-France prisoner swap

A Russian basketball participant accused of being concerned in a ransomware gang was freed in a prisoner trade between Russia and France. 

Daniil Kasatkin, 26, was seen in a video shared by Russian state information outlet TASS rising from a aircraft that was then used to ship French researcher Laurent Vinatier again to France. Vinatier was sentenced to a few years in jail after Russian officers accused him of violating “overseas agent” legal guidelines.

Kasatkin was detained in June at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport shortly after arriving within the nation together with his fiancée. He was held in French extradition custody after U.S. prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest based mostly on accusations that he served as a negotiator for an unnamed ransomware gang that attacked about 900 organizations between 2020 and 2022. 

He was charged with conspiracy to commit pc fraud. Whereas the ransomware gang was by no means named, the Justice Division beforehand mentioned the now-defunct Conti ransomware group attacked greater than 900 victims worldwide. 

The U.S. State Division didn’t reply to requests for remark about whether or not they had been notified that France could be buying and selling Kasatkin for Vinatier. Information outlet AFP reported that French officers did inform the U.S. authorities that it was sending Kasatkin again to Russia in trade for Vinatier. 

Kasatkin beforehand studied and performed basketball within the U.S. at Penn State College within the 2018-2019 season earlier than spending 4 years taking part in professionally with Moscow’s MBA-MBAI.

His lawyer informed French information shops that Kasatkin was not concerned in ransomware assaults and claimed the accusations associated to a second-hand pc he bought. 

A Russian Telegram channel centered on sports activities information claimed U.S. authorities had been monitoring Kasatkin since early 2025, and the arrest warrant was issued simply someday earlier than his arrival in France. 

U.S. officers have had latest success in extraditing hackers accused of helping Russian ransomware gangs and hacktivist teams. One other alleged Conti member was extradited from Eire in October and Ukraine despatched a outstanding hacker to the U.S. final month.

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