Russia jails IT specialist for 13 years over donations to Ukraine; Binance data used in case
A Russian military court sentenced 49-year-old Yuri Belenky, who had lived in Bulgaria since 2015, to 13 years for "financing terrorism"; the human rights group Department One says a Binance report helped investigators.
The Second Western District Military Court has sentenced Yuri Belenky, a 49-year-old IT specialist, to 13 years in prison on charges of “financing terrorism”, Meduza reports, citing the human rights group Department One (Pervy Otdel).
The sentence
Belenky is to spend the first three years in prison before being moved to a high-security penal colony. The court also fined him 500,000 rubles and ordered the confiscation of another 126,000 rubles.
How the case was built
Belenky had lived in Bulgaria since 2015 and regularly visited Russia. He was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in September 2025, first jailed for the administrative offence of petty hooliganism and then charged with financing terrorism.
The case concerned donations to an account whose details had been published by blogger Arkady Babchenko. According to Department One, investigators were able to prove the transfers “thanks to a detailed report” that the cryptocurrency exchange Binance sent in response to a request from Russia’s Investigative Committee. Meduza’s report does not include a comment from Binance.
Russian courts routinely treat donations to Ukraine’s armed forces as treason or terrorism financing, part of a wider wartime crackdown documented by human rights groups.
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