The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that a Ukrainian national has been charged in connection to a plot to attack the nation’s public water infrastructure.
The Ukrainian national, Victoria Eduardovna Dubranova, worked alongside two Russia-linked criminal groups carrying out cyberattacks around the world. Dubranova was extradited to the United States earlier this year for her actions connected to CyberArmyofRussia_Reborn (CARR), which has “conducted dozens of destructive cyberattacks around the world, including attacks against critical infrastructure in the United States,” the EPA explained. She has also been arraigned on a second indictment surrounding actions supporting NoName057(16) (NoName).
Dubranova has now been charged with “one count of conspiracy to damage protected computers and tamper with public water systems, one count of damaging protected computers, one count of access device fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.” She has pleaded not guilty.
CARR and NoName claimed responsibility for hundreds of cyberattacks worldwide in support of Russia’s interests.
“Some of CARR’s victims included public drinking water systems across several U.S. states, resulting in damage to controls and the spilling of hundreds of thousands of gallons of drinking water,” the EPA added. “CARR also attacked a meat processing facility in Los Angeles in November 2024, spoiling thousands of pounds of meat and triggering an ammonia leak in the facility.”
“The defendant’s illegal actions to tamper with the nation’s public water systems put communities and the nation’s drinking water resources at risk,” EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Craig Pritzlaff said in a statement. “These criminal charges serve as an unequivocal warning to malicious cyber actors in the U.S. and abroad: EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and our law enforcement partners will not tolerate threats to our nation’s water infrastructure and will pursue justice against those who endanger the American public. EPA is unwavering in its commitment to clean, safe water for all Americans.”
