Binance gave Russia data on man charged with funding Ukraine
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance handed personal data and transaction details of IT specialist Yuri Belen'kii to Russian military personnel, who later accused him of funding terrorism due to transfers of funds to Ukrainian relief collections.
Consensus
- Binance provided Russian authorities with personal data and transaction history of Yuri Belenky.
- Belenky is a Russian citizen with a residence permit in Bulgaria.
- Belenky was arrested in September 2025 at Sheremetyevo Airport for minor hooliganism.
- He was later re-arrested on charges of terrorism financing related to cryptocurrency donations to Ukrainian organizations.
- The Investigative Committee of Russia requested data from Binance regarding users who sent funds to a cryptocurrency wallet published by Arkady Babchenko.
- The data included personal documents, transaction history, account activity, and device information.
- Binance officially exited the Russian market in 2023.
- The case involves transfers to Ukrainian military and the Azov unit, which Russia designates as terrorist organizations.
- The total amount of transferred cryptocurrency in the final indictment is 1680.69 USDT (approximately 140,000 rubles).
- The Investigative Committee used the data to expand the number of transactions from six to fifteen.
Points of divergence
- Binance provided information about 15 transactions totaling 1680.69 USDT, which were discovered after the initial six. — tg_doxajournal
- Binance may have violated GDPR by disclosing data of a European Union resident without proper legal basis. — thebell
- Binance stated it does not accept legal requests via email, and that it only provides data under court orders or equivalent judicial acts. — tg_dwglavnoe
- Binance provided not only transaction data but also passport copies, photos, and account balance details. — novaya_eu
- Binance responded to the Investigative Committee's request twice, providing personal data and documents including a European residence permit. — mediazona
- Binance did not comment on specific requests or individual cases, but stated it cooperates with law enforcement globally under legal requests. — tg_varlamov_news
- Binance previously provided data to Russian financial monitoring authorities in 2022, which the company denied. — tg_chertamedia
Coverage (16 sources)
- Binance handed over a Russian's transaction history to law enforcement. Now he is being tried for donations to Ukrainian organizations — Вёрстка
- Binance handed Russian military personnel data on donation to Armed Forces of Ukraine — The Bell
- Binance that left Russia handed over data of Russian man with residence permit in EU to Investigative Committee. Information became evidence in case about donations to Ukraine, rights defenders found out — Новая газета Европа
- Binance handed Russia data on its user who is being pursued for donations to VU — DW Главное
- Crypto exchange Binance handed Russian authorities data on donations that Russians made to Ukrainian organizations... — Varlamov News
- Crypto exchange Binance handed Russian security forces information about programmer — DOXA
- Crypto exchange Binance handed Russian security forces data on IT specialist. Now he is accused of funding terrorism due to... — Черта
- Binance handed transaction data of IT company manager from Moscow to law enforcement, who was accused of funding terrorism due to donations to Ukraine — Медиазона
- Crypto exchange Binance provides data to Russian officials — "First Department" — Говорит НеМосква
- Crypto exchange Binance handed Russian security officials history of transactions of EU resident. He faces sentence for "state treason" - "First Department — The Insider
- Crypto exchange Binance handed Russian military data on IT specialist living in EU. Now he is being tried in Russia for donations to Armed Forces of Ukraine — Meduza
- One of the largest crypto exchanges Binance handed data of an EU resident to Russian security forces. A Russian will be tried for donations... — ЭХО / Новости
- Crypto exchange Binance handed FSB data on transfers of EU resident — Russian citizen. Now he faces a term for 'state treason', —... — ASTRA
- «First Department»: Binance handed Russian security forces data on EU resident. Now he is being tried for donations — Дождь (Telegram)
- Crypto exchange Binance handed over data on Russian IT specialist to FSB. Now he is in pretrial detention on terrorist charges for donations to Armed Forces of Ukraine — Важные истории
- «First Department»: Binance handed Russian security forces the transaction history of an EU resident — Дождь