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Ivan Bakanov, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, speaks to the media in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, July 16, 2019. Ivan Bakanov said that the hacker Mykhailo Rytyikov, who controlled 40% of the world Russian-speaking Dark Net, was detained in Odessa. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

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Ukrainian hacker sought by US arrested

By Associated Press AP

PUBLISHED 11:28 AM ET Jul. 16, 2019

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine has arrested an alleged major computer hacker who has been sought by the United States for years.

The head of Ukraine's national security service Ivan Bakanov said Tuesday that Mykhailo Rytikov was arrested in the city of Odessa, in an operation conducted in coordination with Britain and the U.S.

Bakanov said the operation found a data center with about 150 servers and that study of the equipment indicated some were operated under "control and cover of the Russian special services." Moscow hasn't commented on the accusation.

Rytikov, a Ukrainian national, was indicted in the U.S. in 2013 with running a sophisticated hacking organization that stole at least 160 million credit and debit card numbers. But Washington and Ukraine don't have an extradition treaty.