MediumII Cyber Warfare & Critical Infrastructure27 October 2026, Tuesday
Binance account records land a Russian IT worker 13 years in prison
A Russian military court has sentenced Yuri Belenkiy, a 49-year-old IT worker who sent more than 700 dollars in crypto donations to the Ukrainian army, to 13 years for financing terrorism. At the centre of the evidence is the account history Binance handed to Russian investigators in 2025.
According to a 27 October report by The Moscow Times, the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced Belenkiy, who holds a Bulgarian residence permit, to 13 years. He will serve three in prison and ten in a strict-regime colony. Belenkiy denied the charges. He was arrested in September 2025 after flying to Moscow for a visit. As of 28 October the verdict appears only in this report, citing a court statement, and could not be verified by a second independent source.
Meduza reported on 17 August that in October 2025 the Investigative Committee wrote to Binance, citing terrorism cases. It requested information on six customers who had sent money to a wallet shared by exiled journalist Arkady Babchenko. In 2025 the exchange handed over Belenkiy's account history since registration, scans of his Russian passport and Bulgarian residence permit, and his crypto deposit and withdrawal records. After that data arrived, the number of transfers in the indictment rose from 6 to 15. Meduza says the transfers, made between January 2023 and March 2024, exceed 60,000 roubles in total.
The rights group First Department argues that handing over the data without a mutual legal assistance treaty breaches at least five articles of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation. Binance announced its exit from Russia in October 2023; the company does not comment on individual cases or confidential law enforcement requests. The Moscow Times says dozens of Russians have been convicted in recent years over crypto donations to groups later designated extremist or terrorist; no exact figure is given.
Talay assessment
Bottom line
The case shows that crypto's promise of anonymity ends at the exchange layer: what carried on-chain evidence into court was a centralised exchange's identity and transaction records. Binance's response to a Russian request, despite its 2023 exit from Russia, creates regulatory risk for an exchange seeking licences in the EU. The most likely path is EU data protection authorities acting on a complaint and exchanges tightening their procedures for requests from sanctioned states.
Likely effects
- Crypto exchange complianceNegative1–6 months
Exchanges seeking a MiCA licence face an open conflict with EU data protection rules when law enforcement requests arrive from sanctioned countries.
- Crypto users in RussiaNegativeWeeks
For users who donate to Ukraine or contribute to opposition campaigns, a foreign exchange account now counts as a source of evidence.
- Crowdfunding for UkraineUncertain1–6 months
Trust in the crypto donation channel erodes, and donors turn to methods that avoid centralised exchanges.
Possibilities, ranked
- 1EU data protection complaint50%
Rights groups petition the data protection authority of Bulgaria or another EU state, and an inquiry is opened.
Watch: An inquiry into Binance announced by Bulgaria's Commission for Personal Data Protection
- 2Quiet change of procedure35%
Binance limits its responses to Russian law enforcement requests without comment, and similar cases become rarer.
Watch: New Russian indictments in crypto donation cases that rely on exchange data
- 3Similar cases multiply15%
Russian investigators use the same method to request data on the other five customers and from other exchanges.
Watch: New criminal cases linked to the Babchenko wallet
Probabilities are calibrated judgement based on the sources, not measurement, and are revised as new information arrives. Not investment advice.
Market reaction
Indicators affected
- Sentence handed down▲ 13 years
- Transfers in the indictment▲ 6 → 15