Ukrainian law-enforcement officers have arrested the alleged administrator of XSS.is, one of the largest Russian-language cybercrime forums, following a request from the Paris public prosecutor. The suspect was detained in Kyiv on 22 July in a joint operation that included the French Cybercrime Brigade and Europol, the agencies said in separate statements on Wednesday. French prosecutors opened the case on 2 July 2021 and, with judicial authorization, intercepted traffic on the encrypted Jabber server “thesecure.biz” linked to the forum. The wiretaps uncovered ransomware, extortion and other illicit schemes that investigators say generated at least €7 million in criminal profit and ultimately led to the suspect’s identification. Active since 2013 and counting about 50,000 registered users, XSS.is has served as a marketplace for malware, stolen credentials and ransomware-as-a-service offerings. Authorities said evidence seized during the arrest could expose additional forum members and disrupt related criminal infrastructure. The takedown follows a series of recent actions against major hacking hubs, underscoring stepped-up international coordination against cybercrime networks. French and Ukrainian officials indicated that further arrests and domain seizures are possible as the investigation continues.