Russian Court Sentences IT Worker to 13 Years Over Crypto Donations to Ukraine
Russia's 2nd Western District Military Court has convicted Yuri Belenkiy, 49, of financing terrorism and sentenced him to 13 years in prison, Al Jazeera reported. The sentence is three years in prison followed by 10 years in a strict-regime penal colony, a prison with tighter rules on inmates. Prosecutors had asked for 14 years. The court also fined him 500,000 roubles ($6,300).
Belenkiy is a former IT director of the company DiHouse. He holds a Bulgarian residence permit and was detained when he flew to Moscow for a visit. The charges concern cryptocurrency, a digital currency that can be sent between online accounts. Between August 2022 and March 2024, he made 15 transfers worth more than 120,000 roubles ($1,500) to fund Ukraine's armed forces and the Azov battalion. Russia designates the Azov battalion as a terrorist organisation.
The transaction records were central to the case. Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, gave Russian investigators Belenkiy's transaction history in response to a Russian request, and that material served as key evidence against him. Binance pulled out of the Russian market in 2023, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the Western sanctions that followed. Sanctions are restrictions that governments impose on trade and financial dealings.
In court, Belenkiy's defence questioned whether the data really came from Binance. It noted that the exchange has not cooperated with Russia since 2022.
