Basketball player arrested for alleged ransomware ties freed in RussiaFrance prisoner swap The Record from Recorded Future News

pppLeadershipppCybercrimeppNationstatepp Influence Operations ppTechnologyppCyber DailyppClick Here Podcastpp Free Newsletterpp A Russian basketball player accused of being involved in a ransomware gang was freed in a prisoner exchange between Russia and France  pp Daniil Kasatkin 26 was seen in a video shared by Russian state news outlet TASS emerging from a plane that was then used to send French researcher Laurent Vinatier back to France Vinatier was sentenced to three years in prison after Russian officials accused him of violating foreign agent laws pp Kasatkin was detained in June at Pariss Charles de Gaulle Airport shortly after arriving in the country with his fiancée He was held in French extradition custody after US prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest based on accusations that he served as a negotiator for an unnamed ransomware gang that attacked about 900 organizations between 2020 and 2022  pp He was charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud While the ransomware gang was never named the Justice Department previously said the nowdefunct Conti ransomware group attacked more than 900 victims worldwide  pp The US State Department did not respond to requests for comment about whether they were notified that France would be trading Kasatkin for Vinatier News outlet AFP reported that French officials did inform the US government that it was sending Kasatkin back to Russia in exchange for Vinatier  pp Kasatkin previously studied and played basketball in the US at Penn State University in the 20182019 season before spending four years playing professionally with Moscows MBAMBAI pp His lawyer told French news outlets that Kasatkin was not involved in ransomware attacks and claimed the accusations related to a secondhand computer he purchased  pp A Russian Telegram channel focused on sports news claimed US authorities had been tracking Kasatkin since early 2025 and the arrest warrant was issued just one day before his arrival in France  pp US officials have had recent success in extraditing hackers accused of assisting Russian ransomware gangs and hacktivist groups Another alleged Conti member was extradited from Ireland in October and Ukraine sent a prominent hacker to the US last month ppJonathan Greigppis a Breaking News Reporter at Recorded Future News Jonathan has worked across the globe as a journalist since 2014 Before moving back to New York City he worked for news outlets in South Africa Jordan and Cambodia He previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublicppPrivacyppAboutppContact Uspp Copyright 2025 The Record from Recorded Future Newsp