GREENBELT, MD—The U.S. has charged a Russian national, Amin Timovich Stigal, with hacking into and destroying computer systems and data of the Ukrainian government ahead of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country last year.

The indictment, which was returned by a grand jury in Maryland on Wednesday, alleges that Stigal, 22, was part of a Russian cyber unit that launched a massive attack on Ukrainian government networks on January 13, 2022.

The indictment was announced by Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

The hackers implanted WhisperGate malware on the networks, which was designed to look like ransomware but only to delete the targeted computer and exfiltrate sensitive data.

The U.S. and its allies have since attributed the attack to Russian intelligence, and the Justice Department said in the new indictment that Stigal was charged with conspiracy to hack into and destroy computer systems and data “in advance of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.”

The indictment also alleges that Stigal and other Russian cyber units hacked into the networks of a Central European country that was supporting Ukraine in August 2022 and launched a similar attack two months earlier, the Justice Department said.

If found guilty, Stigal faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in U..S federal prison.

The U.S. government has said that it will offer a reward of up to $10 million for information on Stigal’s location or his cyber activities.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.