The Russian national who was accused by American officials of hacking U.S. targets and arrested earlier this month in the Czech capital was indicted by a federal grand jury in the state of California, U.S. officials said Friday.
Yevgeniy Nikulin, 29, of Moscow was arrested October 5 by officials in Prague, where he remains in custody, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Department of Justice.
In the indictment, filed Thursday, Nikulin was charged with computer intrusion and identity theft.
Czech authorities this week said the suspect was detained in downtown Prague in response to an Interpol warrant issued at the request of the United States, and he now faces a Czech extradition hearing, according to RFE/RL's Current Time TV.
Hours after news emerged of Nikulin's arrest, the professional networking service LinkedIn issued a statement suggesting the development was connected to a 2012 breach of its members' information. In May, LinkedIn acknowledged that intrusion compromised more than 100 million of its users' passwords.
No date has been set for Nikulin's extradition hearing, but Czech authorities said the man would remain in custody until that process.
The Russian Embassy in Prague told Current Time that Moscow will be seeking his return to Russia. Moscow, an embassy source said, rejects "the U.S. practice of forcing the entire world to enforce its extraterritorial jurisdiction.
