Ukrainian gets five years for helping North Koreans secure US tech jobs

Ukrainian national Oleksandr Didenko will spend the next five years behind bars in the US for his involvement in helping North Korean IT workers secure fraudulent employment.

The 29-year-old played a role in supporting individuals working for a hostile regime to get contracts in the US.

In November 2025, Didenko pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, charges related to his website Upworksell.com, which allowed the North Korean techies assume identities stolen from US citizens and use them to secure employment.

North Korea's IT worker scheme has been running for years. It sees skilled workers illegally gain access to US jobs and salaries, which are used to fund Pyongyang's military.

Workers rely on being able to trick US companies into believing they are citizens by using resources such as identity providers like Didenko and laptop farms, which the Ukrainian also funded.

Laptop farms are exactly ...