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Last year, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance handed over confidential client data to Russian law enforcement agencies, which served as the basis for charges of financing terrorism.
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According to case materials obtained by human rights activists from the “First Department” project, Yuri Belyenky, a 49-year-old Russian IT specialist and resident of Bulgaria, transferred over $700 to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Azov Brigade. The payments were made between January 2023 and March 2024 to digital wallets published by opposition journalist Arkady Babchenko for the purchase of medical equipment for Ukrainian defenders. The man was detained in September 2025 and is currently being held in a pretrial detention center in the Russian Federation.
In response to official requests from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, a company with the email address [email protected] sent law enforcement authorities the user’s transaction history, his contact information, and copies of his Russian passport and Bulgarian residence permit. Investigators included these materials in the criminal case as key evidence.
The transfer of information took place despite the fact that Binance announced its complete withdrawal from the Russian market in September 2023. Lawyers note that the company was under no obligation to cooperate with Moscow, and that disclosing an EU resident’s data without a court order may violate the European GDPR, since Russia is not considered a country with an adequate level of data protection.
Binance stated that the platform merely complies with legitimate international requests from law enforcement agencies in accordance with regulatory standards and does not influence the filing of charges by governments. The exchange declined to comment on the details of this specific case or on possible violations of European law. Sources have not confirmed whether the trading platform shared information regarding other donors.
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