Binance Data Leads to 13-Year Sentence for Russian IT Worker Accused of Funding Ukraine

A Russian military court has sentenced an IT specialist, Yuri Belenkiy, to 13 years in prison for allegedly financing "terrorism." The conviction followed the cryptocurrency exchange Binance providing Russian investigators with details of Belenkiy's donations to Ukrainian fundraising campaigns. The 2nd Western District Military Court convicted the 49-year-old on Monday, sentencing him to three years in prison followed by a decade in a strict-regime penal colony, according to a court statement. Russian state news agency TASS reported that Belenkiy, formerly an IT director at DiHouse, faced a prosecution request for 14 years and was also fined 500,000 roubles ($6,300). Belenkiy, who holds a Bulgarian residence permit, was detained in September of the previous year upon arriving in Moscow for a visit. He has denied the charges, and his defense intends to appeal the verdict, as reported by TASS. According to the RIA Novosti news agency, the court determined that between August 2022 and March 2024, Belenkiy made 15 cryptocurrency transfers totaling over 120,000 roubles ($1,500) to support Ukraine's armed forces and the Azov battalion, an organization designated as "terrorist" by Russia. These payments were reportedly made using details provided by Arkady Babchenko, an exiled Russian journalist and critic of the Kremlin. RIA Novosti also noted that Belenkiy is listed on the Russian financial monitoring agency's registry of "terrorists and extremists." Russian law enforcement documents obtained by Reuters revealed that Binance supplied Belenkiy's transaction history to investigators in response to a Russian inquiry, and these records were crucial in his prosecution. "The response from Binance serves as key evidence in the criminal case against Belenkiy," Yevgeny Smirnov, a lawyer with the rights group First Department, which aids individuals facing politically motivated prosecutions in Russia, informed Reuters. However, the defense team questioned the authenticity of the data during the court proceedings, pointing out that Binance had not cooperated with Russia since 2022, according to TASS. When contacted about the sentence, Binance referred Reuters to a prior statement asserting that the exchange "does not make or enforce the laws of any jurisdiction, determine charges, or decide how any government uses information in legal proceedings." The company also stated it does not comment on confidential law enforcement requests or individual cases. Binance ceased operations in the Russian market in 2023, following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent imposition of Western sanctions. Mike Bystrov, a lawyer specializing in crypto regulation, told Reuters in August that Binance was not obligated to provide Belenkiy's data. Bystrov suggested that due to Belenkiy's Bulgarian residency, Binance might have been legally bound under European Union data protection law not to disclose the information. First Department recently reported that approximately 10 percent of all charges filed under Russia's treason and espionage laws in 2025 are connected to donations made to Ukrainian organizations. The group indicated that authorities are actively tracking cryptocurrency transfers and bank payments, and continue to initiate cases concerning donations made as far back as 2022.