The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control recently announced that it joined with authorities in Australia and the United Kingdom to impose coordinated sanctions against Media Land LLC, a bulletproof (BPH) service provider based in St. Petersburg, Russia, for engaging in various forms of cybercrime, including its role in facilitating ransomware operations. According to OFAC, BPH service providers generally enable ransomware actors and other cybercriminals to elude law enforcement by selling them “access to specialized servers and other computer infrastructure specifically designed to evade detection.” OFAC also announced that it separately designated three members of Media Land’s leadership team and three of Media Land’s sister companies, including Media Land subsidiaries Media Land Technology and Data Center Kirishi.
OFAC also announced that it joined with the United Kingdom’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to designate Hypercore Ltd., a company based in the United Kingdom that serves as the front company of Aeza Group LLC, a BPH service provider that was designated by the FCDO the same day, according to an Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) Financial Sanctions Notice. Aeza was previously designated by OFAC in July 2025. OFAC further reported that, in coordination with U.K. partners, it designated two individuals and two entities for leading, supporting or acting on behalf of Aeza. The designees included Aeza’s new director Maksim Vladimirovich Makarov and Ilya Vladislavovich Zakirov who is accused of establishing new companies and payment methods to enable Aeza to continue operations following the imposition of U.S. sanctions.
The OFAC designations were imposed pursuant to Executive Order 13694, as amended, for engaging in, being complicit in, or supporting cyber-enabled activities originating outside of the United States that threaten the national security, foreign policy or the economic health and stability of the United States and that have the purpose of causing the disruption of or compromising a computer network. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of the designated persons within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving a designated person. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
U.S. Department of Treasury Press Release | OFSI Financial Sanctions Notice – Russia