A 27-year-old Russian player, Daniil Kasatkin’s parents maintain a low profile, and there is no public comment from his family regarding his arrest.
Daniil Kasatkin, a former basketball player at Penn State University, has been in the news recently due to his arrest in France.
While he is making grand rounds about his athletic career and legal troubles, his parents haven’t broken their silence and remain low-key.
Thus far, unfortunately, little to no information about his parents is currently available. Likewise, Kasatkin has also kept details about his family private.
After his arrest in France in June 2025, reports confirmed that Kasatkin was allowed to communicate with his parents and fiancée Anna Kulisheva.
He was permitted to make phone calls to his parents and had a brief in-person interaction with Anna during a court hearing on July 9, 2025, where they were able to talk and hug.
Kasatkin called his parents several times from the detention center in Paris. This speaks volumes that they continue to be a source of emotional support for him during this difficult period.
Daniil Kasatkin Arrested in France for Alleged Ransomware Involvement!
In June 2025, Daniil Kasatkin was arrested at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, shortly after arriving with his fiancée, Anna Kulisheva, to whom he had just proposed.
Kasatkin was arrested because the U.S. believes he worked with a group that used ransomware to hack nearly 900 places, including two U.S. government agencies, from 2020 to 2022.
They locked people out of their systems and asked for money to unlock them.
Kasatkin is accused of negotiating ransom payments for the group, and the U.S. wants him extradited to face charges of “conspiracy to commit computer fraud.”
Meanwhile, Kasatkin and his lawyers strongly deny these allegations. His lawyer, Frederic Belot, says he is innocent and not skilled with computers, claiming he can’t even install an app.
According to Belot, Kasatkin purchased a used computer that had already been hacked, and someone else may have used it to commit the crimes.
Another lawyer, Vladimir Sarukhanov, says Kasatkin has an “ironclad alibi” because he was living in Russia in 2022 when the alleged crimes took place.
The Russian basketball player’s legal team believes he is a victim of a mistake and is working to prove his innocence.
At the moment, Kasatkin is currently being held in a pre-trial detention center in Paris while the court decides whether he will be extradited to the U.S.
The Russian Embassy in France is involved, communicating with his lawyers, but they have not been able to visit him.
Kasatkin has been allowed to call his parents and hug his fiancée during a court hearing, but the court denied his release because he does not have a permanent residence in France. His lawyers are preparing an appeal to challenge this decision.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Daniil Kasatkin played for MBA Moscow in the VTB United League, appearing in over 170 games.
- The Russian player Kasatkin played briefly for Penn State University during the 2018-2019 season.
- He attended Mountain Mission School in Virginia, where he averaged 14.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
