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- Binance reportedly supplied Russian authorities with customer information that was later used in the case against a Russian IT worker accused of financing terrorism through donations to Ukrainian organizations, Reuters reported.
- According to law enforcement documents cited by Reuters, authorities identified Yuri Belenkiy as the source of transfers exceeding $700. Binance allegedly provided his date of birth, address, phone number and passport details, as well as copies of his Russian passport and Bulgarian residency permit.
- Russian authorities arrested Belenkiy in September 2025. He remains in custody as he awaits trial.
- Russia’s Investigative Committee alleges that Belenkiy sent the money between January 2023 and March 2024 following a fundraising appeal from exiled Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko. Investigators claim the funds were intended for Ukraine’s military and a group associated with the Azov Brigade, which Moscow designates as a terrorist organization.
- Investigators reportedly received two replies from a Binance-linked email address after requesting Belenkiy’s transaction history. Binance’s website had directed Russian and Belarusian law enforcement agencies to that address for official requests.
- Binance’s current law-enforcement policy states that the exchange may provide customer information when authorities submit valid legal documentation, including a court order, police order or warrant in connection with a criminal investigation.
- The reported disclosure came months after Binance exited Russia in September 2023 by selling its Russian operations to CommEX. Binance said its departure was part of a strategy to strengthen compliance and that it would retain neither a revenue-sharing agreement nor the right to repurchase the business.
- Binance told Reuters that it cooperates with legitimate law-enforcement requests while complying with relevant legal, privacy and regulatory requirements. The company did not comment specifically on Belenkiy’s case or whether the disclosure potentially violated European data-protection regulations.
- CoinDesk reached out to Binance for additional comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
- The documents were reportedly obtained by The First Department, an organization supporting defendants in Russian political cases, through one of Belenkiy’s relatives.
