--- title: Ryuk ransomware member pleads guilty in the US, faces 15... description: Karen Serobovich Vardanyan, a 34-year-old Armenian national, has pleaded guilty in the US to participating in the Ryuk ransomware operation. Extradited after... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/ryuk-ransomware-member-pleads-guilty-in-the-us-faces-15-years-in-prison-catlfmize twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Ryuk ransomware member pleads guilty in the US, faces 15 years in prison | daily.dev og:description: Karen Serobovich Vardanyan, a 34-year-old Armenian national, has pleaded guilty in the US to participating in the Ryuk ransomware operation. Extradited after... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/ryuk-ransomware-member-pleads-guilty-in-the-us-faces-15-years-in-prison-catlfmize og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/cAtLFMIZe.png og:image:alt: Ryuk ransomware member pleads guilty in the US, faces 15 years in prison og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Ryuk ransomware member pleads guilty in the US, faces 15 years in prison **[BleepingComputer](https://daily.dev/sources/bleepingcomputer)** · 2 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Karen Serobovich Vardanyan, a 34-year-old Armenian national, has pleaded guilty in the US to participating in the Ryuk ransomware operation. Extradited after his April 2025 arrest in Kyiv, Vardanyan provided initial access to corporate networks between November 2019 and April 2020. He and co-conspirators compromised hundreds of servers and workstations, collecting approximately 1,610 BTC (~$15 million) in ransom payments. Notable victims included a Michigan company that paid 200 BTC, an Oregon tech firm, and a Texas school. Ryuk was active from 2018 to mid-2020, attacking roughly 20 organizations per week and earning over $150 million total before members migrated to the Conti operation. Vardanyan faces up to 15 years in prison and has agreed to pay over $1.1 million in restitution, with sentencing scheduled for September 2026. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What happened to the Ryuk ransomware member who was extradited from Kyiv? Karen Serobovich Vardanyan, a 34-year-old Armenian national, pleaded guilty in the United States to hacking corporate networks and deploying Ryuk ransomware. He was arrested in Kyiv in April 2025 and extradited after providing initial access to victim networks between November 2019 and April 2020. He faces up to 15 years in prison and must pay over $1.1 million in restitution, with sentencing scheduled for September 2026. _Follow ransomware prosecutions and threat actor takedowns as they unfold on daily.dev._ ### How much money did the Ryuk ransomware gang make at its peak? The Ryuk ransomware operation made more than $150 million and, at its peak, hacked around 20 organizations per week. It was active from 2018 until mid-2020, targeting organizations across nearly every sector, including healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic, before many of its members transitioned to the Conti ransomware operation. _Security teams weighing ransomware risk can track threat group histories like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Ryuk ransomware member sentenced to 24 months in prison](https://daily.dev/posts/ryuk-ransomware-member-sentenced-to-24-months-in-prison-gx9jeagxv) · BleepingComputer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Russian initial access broker jailed for 81 months in US](https://daily.dev/posts/russian-initial-access-broker-jailed-for-81-months-in-us-bk2kw0xy4) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [DOJ says ransomware gang tapped into Russian government databases](https://daily.dev/posts/doj-says-ransomware-gang-tapped-into-russian-government-databases-hmfbviv8l) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Russian broker pleads guilty to assisting US cyberattacks](https://daily.dev/posts/russian-broker-pleads-guilty-to-assisting-us-cyberattacks-myixuimql) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#malware](https://daily.dev/tags/malware), [#ransomware](https://daily.dev/tags/ransomware) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/ryuk-ransomware-member-pleads-guilty-in-the-us-faces-15-years-in-prison-catlfmize) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Ryuk ransomware member pleads guilty in the US, faces 15 years in prison","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ryuk-ransomware-member-pleads-guilty-in-the-us-faces-15-years-in-prison-catlfmize","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ryuk-ransomware-member-pleads-guilty-in-the-us-faces-15-years-in-prison-catlfmize"},"datePublished":"2026-07-10T17:51:14.094Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T06:12:52.895Z","description":"Karen Serobovich Vardanyan, a 34-year-old Armenian national, has pleaded guilty in the US to participating in the Ryuk ransomware operation. 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He was arrested in Kyiv in April 2025 and extradited after providing initial access to victim networks between November 2019 and April 2020. He faces up to 15 years in prison and must pay over $1.1 million in restitution, with sentencing scheduled for September 2026. Follow ransomware prosecutions and threat actor takedowns as they unfold on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How much money did the Ryuk ransomware gang make at its peak?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The Ryuk ransomware operation made more than $150 million and, at its peak, hacked around 20 organizations per week. It was active from 2018 until mid-2020, targeting organizations across nearly every sector, including healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic, before many of its members transitioned to the Conti ransomware operation. Security teams weighing ransomware risk can track threat group histories like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```