A 35-year-old suspected Russian hacker, recognized in Russian media as Denis Obrezko, proper, again to digicam, with cyber police after he was arrested in Phuket, Thailand on Nov. 6. 2025. (Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau by way of AP)
AP/Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau
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AP/Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau
BANGKOK — Police have arrested a suspected Russian hacker on the Thai resort island of Phuket who was needed by the FBI on allegations he was behind cyberattacks on U.S. and European authorities businesses, officers stated.
The 35-year-old, who entered Thailand on Oct. 30 at Phuket Airport, was taken into custody earlier this month at his lodge and is now being held pending attainable extradition, Thai police stated.
The suspect’s title was not launched however Russian state-run information company Russia Right this moment recognized him as Denis Obrezko, a local of Stavropol. It reported that his relations confirmed the Nov. 6 arrest and have been planning to combat his extradition to america.
In an e-mail Thursday, the U.S. Division of Justice refused to touch upon the attainable extradition or give different particulars. The U.S. State Division and American officers in Thailand additionally refused to remark.
The Russian Overseas Ministry and the Russian embassy in Thailand additionally didn’t reply to requests for remark, however Russia’s consul common in Phuket, Yegor Ivanov, instructed Russian state information company Tass that the consulate had “acquired notification of the arrest of a Russian citizen on fees of committing an data know-how crime.”
“He was arrested on November 6 and transferred to Bangkok that very same day,” Ivanov stated, with out offering additional particulars.
Ilya Ilyin, head of the consular part of the Russian embassy in Thailand, instructed Tass on Monday that Russian diplomats had visited the suspect in jail in Bangkok.
“Embassy employees carried out a consular go to to the Russian citizen detained on the request of america,” Ilyin stated, including that the embassy was arranging for him to have the ability to meet together with his relations.
Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau stated in a Nov. 12 assertion that it was an FBI tip that the “world-class hacker” was touring to Thailand that led to his arrest in Phuket on a world warrant.
Within the raid on his lodge, police seized laptop computer computer systems, cell phones, and digital wallets, the police’s assertion stated, including that FBI officers have been available for the arrest.
A number of media shops reported that Aleksey Lukashev, a distinct 35-year-old Russian hacking suspect needed by the FBI who has ties to Russian navy intelligence, had been arrested in Phuket the next day.
Thai police stated, nonetheless, there had solely been one arrest and the U.S. Division of Justice instructed the AP that Lukashev “stays a needed fugitive.”
The formal request for the Obrezko’s extradition has been made however it was not clear how lengthy the method would take.
