The 45k Ukraine Base Leak Actually Exposed 9,552 Accounts

On December 16, 2022, HEROIC analysts examined a file being shared on Telegram under the name "45k Ukraine Base." Despite the name, verification showed the file actually contained 9,552 usable records, each pairing an email address with a plaintext password and an associated login URL. Why This Is Dangerous: Sellers and uploaders on Telegram routinely inflate the numbers in a file's name to make it sound more valuable, but the real risk lies in the verified records, not the marketing. Here, 9,552 people have a plaintext email and password combination circulating that can be used to attempt a direct login with no cracking required. What Was Exposed: The file contains email addresses, plaintext passwords, and the URLs each login was tied to. Why This Matters: Whether the file is called "45k" or actually contains 9,552 verified accounts, the impact on each person is the same: if the password was reused anywhere else, that other account is now exposed to credential stuffing attacks, and from there, to a hijacked inbox or fraudulent charges. How This Combolist Was Likely Built: Combolists tied to a country or region, like this Ukraine-focused file, are typically assembled by filtering older breach data and stealer malware logs down to a specific set of email domains or IP ranges, then bundled together and uploaded to Telegram, often with an inflated record count attached to the file name to attract buyers. Check If You're Affected: Regardless of the number in a file's name, the only way to know if your information is part of a leak like this is to check. HEROIC's free breach scanner searches more than 400 billion leaked records so you can confirm your exposure and update any reused passwords right away.