Two Dutch men arrested for aiding Russian cyberattacks

Financial crime investigators have arrested two Dutch company directors on suspicion of helping a Russian-linked company get around EU sanctions by running its servers from the Netherlands.

The Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) arrested a 57-year-old man from Amsterdam and a 39-year-old man from The Hague, according to a statement. Investigators searched three business premises in Enschede and Almere and seized more than 800 servers from datacenters in Dronten and Schiphol-Rijk.

The agency said the original webhosting company, founded on February 10 2022 – two weeks before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – had been used for “destabilising activities” against the EU, including interference, cyberattacks and the spread of disinformation.

The European Union added that company to its sanctions list in May 2025, as part of a package targeting 21 individuals and six companies linked to Russia’s hybrid attacks on Europe.

Around the same date, most of its technical infrastructure was transferred to a newly created Dutch company that investigators describe as a front, the FIOD said. The 57-year-old is listed as its director and indirect sole shareholder.

A second Dutch firm, run by the 39-year-old, provided the internet connectivity that kept the servers online. The investigation is being led by the public prosecution department’s specialist financial unit, the Functioneel Parket.

Hybrid warfare

FIOD did not name either of the Dutch companies or the sanctioned firm. The description matches Stark Industries Solutions Ltd – a UK-registered host – and a Dutch successor entity, WorkTitans BV, according to research by US cybersecurity firm Recorded Future published in August.

Dutch security services AIVD and MIVD warned in a joint report in February that Russian hybrid activity targeting EU states was intensifying, with cyberattacks, sabotage and disinformation campaigns becoming more frequent and brazen.

AIVD director Simone Smit said last month that the threat to national security had not been so broad since the agency was founded after the Second World War.

FIOD has previously said more than 100 Dutch companies have been fined or prosecuted for breaching Russia sanctions since the start of the full-scale invasion. Breaches of the Sanctions Act carry prison sentences of up to six years for the most serious category.