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18h ago

Russian Basketball Player Held in France Challenges U.S. Extradition Over Ransomware Charges

His lawyers say French authorities are delaying access to evidence even as U.S. prosecutors have not disclosed their case publicly.

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Daniil Kasatkin of MBA-MAI in action during the Kondrashin and Belov Cup, between Zenit Saint Petersburg and MBA-MAI Moscow at Arena. (Image: Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Overview

  • Daniil Kasatkin, a former Penn State player turned pro in Russia, has been held at a Paris detention center since June 23 under a U.S. extradition request.
  • U.S. authorities accuse him of negotiating ransom payments for a gang behind roughly 900 ransomware attacks from 2020 to 2022, including breaches of two federal agencies.
  • Defense attorneys Frédéric Bélot and Vladimir Sarukhanov argue that Kasatkin is computer-illiterate and contend that the review of evidence has been unreasonably slow.
  • The Russian embassy in France has formally protested that consular officials are being blocked from meeting with Kasatkin in custody.
  • In a parallel operation last month, French police arrested four alleged operators of the BreachForums hacking forum as part of a broader cybercrime crackdown.