Russian Resident Gets 7 Years for Using Crypto To Fund Ukrainian Armed Forces

• Ukraine has received hundreds of millions in crypto donations since the war began.
• Russia has begun regulating Bitcoin mining and greenlit domestic companies to use BTC in international trade.
• BRICS member states are testing blockchain/crypto-based systems for international trade.

A Russian citizen from Yakutia has been sentenced to seven years in prison for providing financial assistance to Ukraine’s military, marking the first public court verdict to involve the use of crypto to finance a warring state.

Suspicion of Treason

As per Russian media, an unnamed Russian citizen has been sentenced to prison for funneling cryptocurrencies to help fund Ukraine’s armed forces. The individual, whose identity remains anonymous, was reported to have been working at a diamond mining company.

After joining a social media group that connected him with the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), he was instructed on how to transfer crypto to the AFU, which the Russian government deems a terrorist organization. A separate case may soon become the second sentencing of its kind.

Crypto donations have been pouring into Ukraine since the conflict began. As per on-chain data for notable charity, StandWithUkraine.com, it has received just over 651 BTC since 2022.

Any Means To Ease the Economic Strain

The news follows increasing efforts from the Russian government to legitimize crypto, or at least cryptocurrency mining, across the nation. Recently, Russia’s Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, gave companies the go-ahead to use Bitcoin (BTC) for international trade.

Presumably, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the painful economic sanctions imposed on Russia have prompted politicians to seek any means necessary to quell the economic strain. That said, Russia has seemingly shot itself in the foot as even its mining ambitions may struggle due to regional power shortages.

Though some consider it to be too little, too late, it coincides with broader initiatives laid out by the BRICS union, which are all working towards blockchain- and crypto-focused projects with shared aims of establishing separate economic and trade systems independent of Western networks.