Authorities seized laptops and arrested four other alleged hackers in operations across the country.

The group is suspected of extorting “several hundred millions of euros” from victims in 71 different countries.

The arrests are the most recent efforts by international law enforcement to combat the growing menace of ransomware.

Ransomware is malicious computer software that encrypts data and locks systems until a ransom is paid to a hacker, typically in cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.

According to Europol, agents examined 30 houses last week, leading to the arrests of the five Russian speakers.

The investigators have not revealed their country.

For years, Russia has been accused of harboring ransomware groups, and arrests in the country are exceptionally rare.

Ransomware operations are frequently carried out as a “software as a service” plan, in which hackers pay a percentage of revenues to the leaders of gangs that build the malicious software used in assaults.

Anonymous attacks can be carried out by hacker “affiliates” from anywhere in the world. In recent years, affiliates have been arrested in South Korea, Poland, Switzerland, Canada, and, increasingly, Ukraine.