A Russian court docket has despatched a person to jail for 15 years after convicting him of sending crypto to the Ukrainian army.
Per a report from the state-run information company TASS, the person is a resident of the Oryol Oblast, some 370km to the south of Moscow.
The court docket heard that the person used crypto to “switch cash” to the Armed Forces of Ukraine on “a number of events.”
One other Russian Convicted for Sending Crypto to Ukrainian Military
The unnamed man was charged with treason-related offenses by the Federal Safety Service (FSB).
The company has seemingly intensified its crackdown on Russian supporters of Ukraine’s army forces in current months.
The FSB doubtless has entry to a spread of blockchain analytics instruments that permit legislation enforcers monitor particular person crypto customers.
These tools were first put into operation by the Russian anti-AML body Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) in early 2023.
Final yr, Russian scientists additionally mentioned they'd developed a solution that helps law enforcers fight against “criminals” who make use of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
The court docket additionally ordered the person to pay a 500,000 ruble (round $6,000) fantastic.
TASS reported {that a} department of the Western District Army Courtroom heard that the person made “a number of transfers of funds” to “armed formations” in based mostly Ukraine.
The FSB’s press service claimed the person was a member of Telegram channels run by “Ukrainian terrorist organizations.”
Man ‘Made A number of Crypto Transfers’
The company mentioned the person “repeatedly transferred funds” in “assist” of the teams in 2023 and 2024.” The FSB mentioned:
“The [crypto] was used to purchase drones, weapons, ammunition, and tactical tools for the Ukrainian military. These have been all supposed to assist conduct army operations in opposition to troopers of the Russian Armed Forces.”
The court docket convicted the person of “excessive treason” and “helping a terrorist exercise,” each “violations of the Legal Code of the Russian Federation.”
The FSB launched scant particulars concerning the man, noting solely that he was a resident of Oryol, and that he was born in 1976.
Nonetheless, the FSB launched a video “confession” from the person, the place he addressed the digital camera and mentioned:
“I despatched […] cryptoassets. […] I knew that I used to be sending it to [groups] that have been preventing on Ukraine’s facet.”
FSB’s Crypto Crackdown
The FSB has made scores of comparable arrests in current months. Most just lately, it arrested a person within the metropolis of Nizhny Novgorod, accusing him of sending crypto to Ukraine-based militants. The company mentioned that the militants used the funds to purchase drones.
Russia has more and more turned to cryptocurrencies to facilitate its oil commerce with China and India, permitting it to bypass Western sanctions.#Russia #Chinahttps://t.co/T3bKfCy8fP
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) March 14, 2025
The company’s arrest report additionally featured an analogous video confession, with the suspect’s face blurred and little or no info offered about his identification.
The FSB made one other arrest on March 19, swooping on an deal with in Krasnodar Krai to arrest a person who it says “gave the Ukrainian particular providers details about a Russian army facility.”
Per a separate TASS report, the person, the company mentioned, “proactively contacted representatives” of the Ukrainian military.
He then reportedly allow them to know concerning the facility, which is positioned close to his residence.
The FSB says Ukraine’s army makes use of Russian crypto donations to purchase gadgets together with “unmanned thermal imaging sights, plane, ammunition, and uniforms.”
Different arrestees, additionally charged with sending crypto to Ukrainian Armed Forces models and Russian paramilitaries based mostly in Ukraine, embody a Moscow-based scientist and a resident of the Russian Far Eastern region of Khabarovsk Krai.
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