The XSS hacker forum could be under the control of the SBU

The largest Russian—language hacker forum, XSS, which brought together more than 50,000 people, was run by a citizen of Ukraine and could have been under the control of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) for many years, Izvestia learned from people involved in its activities.

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At the end of July 2025, in Kiev, the SBU, with the support of Europol and the French cyber police (BL2C), detained a 38‑year-old man suspected of administering the forum. The official name of the detainee has not yet been announced. However, Izvestia's sources involved in XSS's activities confirmed that we are talking about Anton Medvedovsky, known among hackers under the nickname Toha, a citizen of Ukraine, a resident of Kiev.

As suggested by one of the XSS moderators with the nickname Anomalia, who was well—versed in the processes taking place inside the resource, in recent years the forum has been under the patronage of the SBU.

"Medvedovsky had miscalculations in ensuring his own operational security. Considering that he has been administering shadow forums for 20 years, his identity could clearly have been established much earlier and offered cooperation," Anomalia said.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

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