MOSCOW, April 12 - RAPSI. The Cypriot authorities have extradited hacker Dmitry Zubakha to Russia, the Russian Interior Ministry reported on Friday. He has been charged with committing cyber attacks.

Ministry spokesperson Marina Gridnyova told journalists that Zubakha would leave for Russia today accompanied by representatives of Interpol's Russian office and the Federal Penitentiary Service.

Zubakha and his accomplice Sergei Logashov planned and executed denial of service attacks on Amazon.com, eBay, and Priceline on several occasions in 2008.

The US Department of Justice charged him in May 2011 in relation to the attacks with conspiracy to intentionally cause damage without authorization to a protected computer, and two counts of intentionally causing damage to a protected computer resulting in a loss of over $5,000. Another charge mentions aggravated identity theft for a separate incident involving the possession of stolen credit card numbers in October 2009.

The defendants face up to 12 years in a US prison and a $250,000 fine.

Zubakha was arrested in Cyprus where he went on holiday in July 2012. Logashov is still at large.

The United States was seeking to extradite Zubakha from Cyprus. However, the Cypriot Justice and Public Order Minister decided to extradite Zubakha to Russia on April 5, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office reports.