Russian court jails IT company director for 13 years over crypto donations after Binance shared his data, rights group says
The man had lived in Bulgaria for about 10 years before flying to Moscow on business last year, where he was detained at the airport for allegedly using obscene language.
A Russian court has sentenced Yuri Belenky, the director of IT company DiHouse, to 13 years in prison for terrorism financing. The charges stem from cryptocurrency donations made between 2022 and 2024, which investigators believe were intended for Ukraine's Armed Forces. Belenky, who resides in Bulgaria, was apprehended at Moscow airport in September 2025 after being detained for allegedly using profanity.
Russian authorities accused him of using Binance, a global cryptocurrency exchange, to facilitate the donations. In October 2025, the Investigative Committee requested account information from Binance regarding six users who had transferred funds to a wallet published by journalist Arkady Babchenko. Binance provided the court with Belenky's transaction history, including personal details and identification documents.
The court confiscated the 126,000 rubles ($1,560) transferred to Babchenko's account, which Russia designates as belonging to the Azov battalion, a group Russia labels as terrorist.
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