Russian sentenced to 13 years for Ukraine donations
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on TimesLIVE
Russian IT specialist Yuri Belenky has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for financing fundraisers intended for the Ukrainian army. Russian justice authorities relied on his transaction history, provided to investigators by Binance, according to court documents reviewed by Reuters.
Russian IT specialist Yuri Belenky was sentenced on Monday to 13 years in detention for financing terrorism after sending more than $700 to the Ukrainian army through his Binance accounts, Reuters reports. The military court of the Second Western District sentenced him to three years in prison, followed by 10 years in a strict-regime penal colony, according to a statement from the court.
Yuri Belenky, who holds a Bulgarian residence permit, was arrested in September 2025 while travelling to Moscow. He denied the allegations. According to Russian investigators’ documents reviewed by Reuters, he had responded to an online appeal by exiled Russian opposition figure Arkady Babchenko to fund medical equipment for Ukrainian soldiers. Some payments were directed to the Azov brigade or regiment, which the Russian authorities consider an enemy organisation.
Russian investigators obtained Yuri Belenky’s transaction history from Binance in response to an official request, and the data was used as evidence in the proceedings. Ievgueni Smirnov, a lawyer for rights organisation First Department, said Binance’s response was an essential element of the case.
Rights defenders who monitor politically motivated prosecutions in Russia say dozens of people have been convicted in recent years for donations made through cryptocurrency platforms. Binance, which left Russia in 2023, said it did not enforce states’ laws and did not decide either on prosecutions or on the use of its information in judicial proceedings.
