{
  "id": 1544268,
  "title": "World’s largest crypto exchange helped Russia identify and jail a man who donated to Ukraine’s army",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/worlds-largest-crypto-exchange-helped-russia-identify-and-jail-a-man",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-17T19:25:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euromaidan Press",
    "slug": "euromaidan-press",
    "url": "https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/08/17/worlds-largest-crypto-exchange-helped-russia-identify-and-jail-a-man-who-donated-to-ukraines-army/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "World's biggest crypto exchange, Binance, assisted Russian authorities in apprehending one of its own citizens for backing the Ukrainian military. According to Reuters, Russian authorities apprehended 49-year-old Russian IT expert Yuriy Bielenkyi in September 2025 and he is presently incarcerated in a Russian prison awaiting trial. The information was subsequently incorporated into his criminal case.\n\nRussian investigators also reached out to Binance to identify other individuals who had transferred funds to a wallet established to collect donations for Ukrainian soldiers. Journalists uncovered documents indicating that in October 2025, Russian investigators sought Binance's transaction history for Bielenkyi. The exchange furnished data on transfers to Ukrainian cryptocurrency wallets.\n\nIn addition to transaction data, Russian law enforcement obtained the user's personal information, including his date of birth, residence address, phone number, passport details, a copy of his Russian passport, and his Bulgarian residence permit. By entrusting Binance with the data, Russia bypassed the need to directly request such sensitive information.\n\nCrypto-regulation lawyer Mike Bystrov informed journalists that Binance was not obliged to hand over the data to Russia. If Bielenkyi registered as an EU customer with Binance, he would be protected by rules limiting the transfer of personal data to countries lacking an adequate data protection level. Binance, however, maintained that it cooperates with lawful law enforcement requests across various countries, yet the government authorities ultimately decide how to utilize the information they receive.\n\nMoreover, the European Data Protection Board, an EU body, declined to comment on the matter. Prior to this incident, Reuters reported in 2021 that Binance's regional head consulted with representatives from Russia's financial-monitoring agency, who sought assistance in identifying customers making Bitcoin donations to Alexei Navalny. At that time, Binance stated that Russian authorities had never approached the company regarding the anti-Kremlin activist, who passed away in an Arctic penal colony in 2024.",
  "summary": "Binance reportedly provided Russian authorities with personal data that helped lead to the arrest of a Russian IT specialist.",
  "key_points": [
    "Binance assisted Russian authorities in apprehending Yuriy Bielenkyi in September 2025",
    "Russian investigators sought Binance's transaction history for Bielenkyi in October 2025",
    "Binance cooperated with lawful law enforcement requests but data usage is at government discretion"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}