LONDON, May 7. /TASS/. The UK, together with Australia and the USA, imposed sanctions against one of the leaders of cyber-crime gang LockBit, Russian Dmitry Khoroshev, the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.

"The gang was responsible for 25% of ransomware attacks globally last year, targeting thousands of victims over the years including over 200 UK businesses. LockBit orchestrated a malicious online campaign, illegally stealing and using sensitive data to extract billions of dollars from business and individuals," the statement says.

Sanctions against 31-year-old Khoroshev include a ban on entry into the kingdom and seizure of his assets if any are found.

In turn the US Treasury Department announced that the United States "designated Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, a Russian national and a leader of the Russia-based LockBit group, for his role in developing and distributing LockBit ransomware."

In February, Bloomberg reported that the UK National Crime Agency, the FBI and a number of other law enforcement agencies conducted a joint operation during which they blocked the LockBit portal. A US intelligence agency spokesman told Bloomberg that the operation, which involved 11 countries, also blocked 11,000 domain names used by the gang to distribute malware. According to the US Department of Justice, more than 1,400 cyber-attacks were carried out with the participation of LockBit in the US and around the world. The cyber criminals demanded a total of more than $100 million from their victims, receiving at least tens of millions of dollars in Bitcoin.

Inclusion on the sanctions list entails the freezing of assets in the United States and the prohibition of American citizens and companies from doing business with those involved.