The 2nd Western District Military Court on Monday convicted 49-year-old Yuri Belenkiy, a former IT director at DiHouse, and sentenced him to three years in prison followed by 10 years in a strict-regime penal colony, according to a court statement. He was also fined 500,000 roubles ($6,300). Prosecutors had asked for 14 years.
Belenkiy, who holds a Bulgarian residence permit, was detained in September last year when he flew to Moscow for a visit. He denied the charges, and his defence will appeal the verdict, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
The court found that between August 2022 and March 2024, Belenkiy made 15 cryptocurrency transfers worth more than 120,000 roubles ($1,500) to fund Ukraine’s armed forces and the Azov battalion, which Russia designates a “terrorist” organisation, according to RIA Novosti. He used payment details posted by exiled Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko.
Russian law enforcement documents seen by Reuters showed that Binance gave investigators Belenkiy’s transaction history in response to a Russian request. “The response from Binance serves as key evidence in the criminal case against Belenkiy,” Yevgeny Smirnov, a lawyer with the rights group First Department, told Reuters.
In court, the defence questioned whether the data really came from Binance, noting that the exchange has not cooperated with Russia since 2022.
Binance referred Reuters to a previous statement saying the exchange “does not make or enforce the laws of any jurisdiction, determine charges, or decide how any government uses information in legal proceedings”. It said it does not comment on confidential law enforcement requests or individual cases.
Mike Bystrov, a lawyer specialising in crypto regulation, told Reuters in August that because of Belenkiy’s Bulgarian residency, Binance may have been obliged under European Union data protection law not to provide the data.
First Department said about 10 percent of all charges brought under Russia’s treason and espionage laws in 2025 were linked to donations to Ukrainian organisations.