TL;DR:
- Binance handed Russian authorities transaction records and personal information of a user accused of financing terrorism.
- Yuri Belenkiy, an IT specialist, was detained in September 2025 for sending over $700 in cryptocurrencies to Ukrainian groups between 2023 and 2024.
- The exchange shared data including date of birth, home address, phone number, passport number, and copies of the accused’s identity documents.
Binance reportedly handed Russian authorities transaction records and personally identifiable information of a client accused of financing terrorism through cryptocurrency donations to Ukrainian fundraising campaigns, according to court documents reviewed by Reuters.
Russia’s Investigative Committee used that information as evidence against Yuri Belenkiy, an information technology specialist detained in September 2025 and currently awaiting trial. According to the documents, Belenkiy made transfers of more than $700 between January 2023 and March 2024, destined for the Ukrainian military and a group linked to the Azov Brigade, classified as a terrorist organization by Moscow. The donations were reportedly motivated by a public appeal from Arkady Babchenko, a Kremlin critic living in exile.
Binance Claims to Have Complied with Regulations
Russian authorities requested Belenkiy’s transaction history and received two responses from [email protected], an address the platform itself indicated for requests from Russian and Belarusian security agencies. The information handed over included the accused’s date of birth, home address, phone number, passport number, and copies of his Russian passport and Bulgarian residence permit.
What occurred takes on a different dimension considering that Binance announced its complete withdrawal from Russia in September 2023, selling its local business to CommEX and stating that operating in the country was not compatible with its compliance strategy. The data disclosure is said to have occurred during that transition period or even afterward.
A spokesperson for the exchange declined to comment on Belenkiy’s specific case. “Binance does not dictate or enforce the laws of any jurisdiction, nor does it determine charges or decide how governments use information in legal proceedings. Like other global financial institutions, we cooperate with legitimate requests from law enforcement agencies around the world, subject to applicable legal, privacy, and regulatory requirements,” the spokesperson said according to Reuters.
The case came to light through documents obtained by The First Department, an organization that provides support to defendants in politically motivated Russian cases, through a relative of Belenkiy. The situation raises questions about whether the data transfer could have violated European personal data protection regulations, given the accused’s Bulgarian residence permit — a matter on which Binance also declined to comment.
