A Russian IT specialist is sitting in a Moscow jail cell awaiting trial on terrorism financing charges, and the evidence against him came straight from Binance. According to law enforcement documents reviewed by Reuters, the exchange handed Russian authorities detailed records of cryptocurrency donations that Yuri Belenkiy sent to Ukrainian military-linked groups, raising fresh questions about Binance cryptocurrency privacy protections for users who thought their exchange had already walked away from Russia.
Summary
Key takeaways
- Binance provided Russian investigators with transaction data used to charge IT specialist Yuri Belenkiy with financing terrorism.
- Belenkiy allegedly sent more than $700 in crypto to Ukrainian military-linked groups, including the Azov Brigade, between January 2023 and March 2024.
- Binance says it exited Russia in September 2023, yet documents show it still answered Russian law enforcement requests.
- Legal experts say GDPR may have barred Binance from sharing the data without a court order, since Belenkiy holds Bulgarian residency.
- Belenkiy was detained in September 2025 and formally charged on October 13, 2025; he remains jailed awaiting trial.
Binance’s data sharing triggers terrorism financing charges in Russia
The case against Belenkiy rests almost entirely on records that Binance turned over to Russian investigators. Russia’s Investigative Committee, the body that handles serious criminal cases, alleged in October that the 49-year-old sent donations to the Ukrainian military and an associated group known as the Azov Brigade, which Moscow classifies as a terrorist organization. Belenkiy holds both a Russian passport and a Bulgarian residency permit, and he was detained in September 2025 before being formally charged on October 13, 2025.
Yuri Belenkiy’s crypto donations to Ukrainian military groups
Investigators say Belenkiy transferred more than $700 in cryptocurrency between January 2023 and March 2024, responding to an online appeal from Arkady Babchenko, an exiled Kremlin critic who has publicly solicited crypto donations for Ukrainian soldiers. Reuters reviewed several posts from that period on Babchenko’s Telegram channel listing wallet addresses for donations meant to fund medical equipment for troops fighting Russian forces. Babchenko told Reuters he had urged people inside Russia not to send money to Ukrainian military fundraisers precisely because of the arrest risk, adding that he considers it “inappropriate” for exchanges to share Russian clients’ donation details with Russian law enforcement.
Use of Binance client data in Russian legal proceedings
Documents show Russian officials requested Belenkiy’s transaction history directly from Binance, and the exchange responded with records showing crypto transfers to the Ukrainian organizations. That data was then folded into the case file against him. An interim outline of the case sent to the Russian prosecutor-general’s office cites those very transactions as grounds for the terrorism financing charges. One document also shows investigators asked Binance to reveal the identities of other people who had sent money to the same wallet Babchenko was promoting — though the documents seen by Reuters do not disclose whether Binance complied with that broader request.
Binance’s exit from Russia and ongoing cooperation with authorities
Binance told the public it had left Russia entirely in 2023, yet the paper trail shows a different picture: the exchange kept answering Russian law enforcement requests well after that announcement. In September 2023, the company said operating in Russia no longer fit its compliance strategy, insisting there would be no ongoing revenue sharing and no option to buy back the business. This matters because it suggests an exchange can formally sever commercial ties with a jurisdiction while still maintaining an active channel with that country’s investigators — a distinction users may not fully grasp when deciding where their financial data ends up.
Binance’s official stance on lawful information requests
A Binance spokesperson defended the company’s actions in a statement to Reuters, saying: “Binance does not make or enforce the laws of any jurisdiction, determine charges, or decide how any government uses information in legal proceedings. Like other global financial institutions, we cooperate with lawful information requests from law enforcement globally, subject to applicable legal, privacy and regulatory requirements. Those decisions rest solely with the relevant Authorities.” Binance declined to comment on the specifics of Belenkiy’s case, saying it “does not comment on specific confidential law enforcement requests or individual cases.”
Continued response to Russian law enforcement after exit
The mechanics of that cooperation are documented in the case file. After Russian investigators sought Binance’s help, they received two replies from the email address [email protected] — an address Binance’s own website lists for Russian and Belarusian law enforcement agencies to use. Those replies included a data file confirming Belenkiy initiated the transfer to Babchenko’s wallet, along with his date of birth, address, phone number, passport number, and copies of both his Russian passport and Bulgarian residency permit.
GDPR implications and privacy concerns over data disclosure
Whether Binance broke European data protection law by handing over that file is now the central legal question hanging over the case. Mike Bystrov, founder of the crypto regulation law firm Stellar Consulting, told Reuters that Binance was under no obligation to provide the data once it had quit Russia — and may in fact have had an obligation not to, under EU rules.
Potential GDPR violations in sharing data without court order
If Belenkiy was registered with Binance as an EU resident, GDPR compliance would have required a court order before any disclosure of his personal details, according to Bystrov. “In addition, in the EU and under GDPR, Russia is not viewed as a country with an adequate level of protection for personal data, therefore sending personal data there is a very delicate matter,” he said. Binance did not comment on whether handing over Belenkiy’s data would constitute a GDPR breach, and Reuters could not independently establish whether he was registered as an EU customer on the platform.
Belenkiy’s Bulgarian residency and EU data protection scope
Belenkiy’s Bulgarian residency permit is the crux of the dispute. If his account was linked to that residency status, EU data protection law would apply to his information regardless of where the request originated. Belenkiy’s lawyer did not respond to Reuters questions about whether his client was registered as a Bulgarian resident on Binance, and Bulgaria’s Commission for Personal Data Protection did not respond when asked whether laws had been broken. The European Data Protection Board, the EU body overseeing such matters, declined to comment, saying enforcement responsibility lies with individual member states.
Expert commentary on legal risks and data protection tensions
Bystrov’s perspective carries added weight given his history with Binance: he previously served on the legal team that helped the exchange successfully challenge a ban on its main website inside Russia in January 2021. His current assessment — that Binance may have crossed a legal line by sharing EU-protected data without judicial authorization — highlights a structural tension facing global exchanges. Rules built to protect users in one jurisdiction can collide directly with law enforcement demands in another, and companies operating across both risk breaching one framework while trying to satisfy the other.
Political and ethical concerns around crypto data sharing
Beyond the legal questions, the case has drawn sharp criticism from human rights advocates who say episodes like this show how easily crypto exchanges can be pulled into political repression. Dmitry Zair-Bek, head of The First Department — the NGO that provided Reuters with the legal documents underpinning this story — argued that an EU resident would never expect a company that publicly announced its Russia exit to quietly maintain a working relationship with that country’s law enforcement.
Criticism from activists and The First Department NGO
“An EU resident would hardly imagine that a crypto-giant that announced it was leaving Russia is actually retaining a channel of communication with that country’s law enforcement,” Zair-Bek told Reuters. “And in their worst nightmares the EU resident would not imagine that the same crypto-giant would give them up, at the first time of asking, to detectives and investigators who engage in political repression.” The First Department, which provides legal support to people prosecuted in politically motivated cases in Russia, said it obtained the documents from a relative of Belenkiy’s, though Reuters could not independently confirm that account. Rights activists tracking similar prosecutions say several dozen people have been convicted in Russia for crypto donations later labeled extremist or terrorist by Moscow, though the exact number remains unclear.
Statements from Ukrainian fundraiser Arkady Babchenko
Babchenko, whose Telegram appeal prompted Belenkiy’s donations in the first place, said he bears no responsibility for how exchanges handle client data but still views the practice as ethically troubling. His comments echo a broader concern raised by this case: donors who use crypto believing it offers a degree of anonymity may in fact be leaving a data trail that authorities in authoritarian states can request and receive with relative ease, especially when an exchange keeps an open line for law enforcement inquiries even after formally exiting a country.
This is not the first time Binance’s dealings with Russian authorities have drawn scrutiny. Reuters previously reported that a Binance regional executive met with officials from Russia’s Financial Monitoring Agency in 2021 who sought help identifying customers who had donated bitcoin to jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic penal colony in 2024. At the time, Binance said it had never been contacted by Russian authorities regarding Navalny. Taken together with the Belenkiy case, the pattern suggests that questions around Binance Russia data sharing are not isolated, and that the exchange’s public exit from the Russian market has not fully closed the door on cooperation with Russian investigators.
For now, neither the Kremlin nor Russia’s Investigative Committee has responded to requests for comment, and Bulgaria’s foreign ministry declined to comment as well. The Ukrainian armed forces and presidential administration also did not respond to Reuters. What remains unresolved is whether GDPR crypto compliance failures — if confirmed — could expose Binance to regulatory action in Europe, and whether other donors caught up in similar terrorism financing crypto case investigations across Russia had their data shared the same way.
FAQ
Why was Yuri Belenkiy charged with terrorism financing?
Russian authorities used Binance data showing Belenkiy donated more than $700 in cryptocurrency to Ukrainian military-linked groups, including the Azov Brigade.
Did Binance violate EU data protection laws by sharing client data with Russia?
If Belenkiy was registered as an EU resident, GDPR would prohibit sharing his data without a court order. Binance disputes wrongdoing and says it only complies with lawful requests.
How does Binance justify sharing data after exiting Russia?
Binance said it cooperates with lawful information requests from law enforcement wherever it operates, subject to applicable legal, privacy and regulatory requirements, even after formally exiting Russia in 2023.
What are the political concerns related to Binance’s data sharing?
Activists including The First Department NGO warn that Binance’s cooperation with Russian authorities can enable political repression against people who donated to support Ukraine, despite the company’s stated exit from the Russian market.
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.
