Russia Claims US Is Hunting Its Citizens After FSB Hacker Extradited From Thailand

The Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a warning urging citizens who may be of interest to American law enforcement to avoid traveling to Thailand, including taking transit flights through local airports, The Moscow Times reported on June 12.

The ministry claims there is a high threat of detention or arrest at the behest of US intelligence and security agencies.

“Unfortunately, this friendly country, popular with Russian tourists, remains one of the places where Washington has launched a real 'hunt' for Russians,” the ministry stated.

The warning highlighted that Thailand has an active extradition treaty with the United States. According to The Moscow Times, Russia alleges that its citizens, detained under US warrants, face threats, intimidation, and psychological pressure designed to coerce guilty pleas.

The ministry asserted that the targeting of Russian nationals in Thailand has intensified since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, warning that sweeping extraterritorial sanctions against the Russian economy mean many citizens might unknowingly find themselves in Washington’s crosshairs.

However, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), quoted by The Moscow Times, pushed back against the severity of the warning. The association stated they have not encountered cases of ordinary tourists being detained on third-party warrants. ATOR noted that over 1.8 million Russians visit the country annually, describing such arrests as extremely isolated incidents.

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The diplomatic advisory closely follows a highly publicized arrest. In the fall of 2025, 36-year-old Denis Obrezko—reportedly a graduate of the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) Cryptography Academy—was detained in Thailand during a joint operation between local police and the FBI.

He was formally extradited to the United States in June 2026. US authorities suspect Obrezko of belonging to Void Blizzard, an FSB-linked hacker collective known for targeting government agencies, defense contractors, transportation networks, and medical facilities across the US, Europe, and Ukraine. He made his initial appearance in a Boston federal court on June 10, according to The Moscow Times.

This crackdown on state-backed cybercriminals matches an expanding wave of Russia’s covert global operations. Western intelligence officials have reported that since 2022, Moscow has expanded its campaign of targeted assassinations across Europe, shifting from intelligence officers to criminal proxies to target dissidents and foreign supporters of Ukraine.

Much like the state-linked hacker networks operating in Southeast Asia, these operations are directly authorized by Russian intelligence agencies, frequently utilizing organized crime rings to coordinate sabotage, espionage, and assassination plots across the West.

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