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Point of Focus
- Binance gave Russian authorities a user’s personal details and crypto transaction records.
- The information was used to charge Yuri Belenkiy with financing terrorism.
- The disclosure occurred after Binance announced its complete exit from Russia in 2023.
Binance provided Russian authorities with personal information and cryptocurrency transaction records that were later used to charge a Russian IT specialist with financing terrorism, according to law enforcement documents reviewed by Reuters.
The case concerns 49-year-old Yuri Belenkiy, who holds a Russian passport and a Bulgarian residency permit. Russian authorities arrested him in September 2025 and accused him of transferring more than $700 in cryptocurrency to Ukrainian fundraising initiatives between January 2023 and March 2024.
Investigators allege that the recipients included groups linked to the Azov Brigade, which Russia designates as a terrorist organization. Belenkiy remains in a Russian jail awaiting trial.
Binance supplied personal and transaction data
Documents reportedly show that Russian investigators asked Binance to provide Belenkiy’s transaction history and identify the person behind transfers to cryptocurrency wallets promoted by exiled Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko.
Binance’s response allegedly included Belenkiy’s name, date of birth, home address, telephone number and passport number. The exchange also supplied copies of his Russian passport and Bulgarian residency permit.
Binance handed Russian authorities data on Russians’ transfers to Ukraine
The information may have been used as evidence in the case of Russian IT specialist Yury Belenky, who is accused of “facilitating terrorism” and faces up to 15 years in prison.
According to Reuters and… pic.twitter.com/O3CFzAChYD
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 17, 2026
Investigators incorporated the Binance records into the evidence supporting the terrorism financing charge. One document reportedly cited the cryptocurrency transactions in an interim case summary sent to the Russian prosecutor-general’s office.
The requests received replies from an email address ending in binanceholdings.ru, which Binance had previously identified as a contact channel for Russian and Belarusian law enforcement.
Disclosure raises questions about Russia exit
The case has renewed scrutiny of Binance’s 2023 departure from Russia. The exchange said at the time that operating in the country was incompatible with its compliance strategy and described the exit as complete.
Critics argue that users may not have expected Binance to continue responding to Russian law enforcement requests after leaving the market.
Binance reportedly handed user data to Russian authorities that was later linked to the arrest of a Ukrainian donor.
Binance says it cooperates with lawful requests, despite exiting the Russian market in 2023 as part of its efforts to strengthen compliance.
The case raises… pic.twitter.com/r3coOPhXTB
— CryptoMoses (@realcryptomoses) August 17, 2026
Binance said it cooperates with lawful information requests globally, subject to applicable legal, privacy and regulatory requirements.
The exchange added that it does not determine criminal charges or decide how governments use information in legal proceedings.
Potential EU privacy issues emerge
The disclosure could also raise questions under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation if Belenkiy was registered with Binance as a Bulgarian resident.
Crypto regulation lawyer Mike Bystrov told Reuters that transferring an EU resident’s information to Russia would require compliance with strict data protection provisions because Russia is not considered to provide adequate safeguards for personal data.
“The same Binance. The same compliance infrastructure …. cut off Shelbit for OFAC on August 7. It handed Yuri Belenkiy's passport to Russian investigators sometime before October 2025. It helped India's CID bust a Hamas and Houthi crypto-hawala network” https://t.co/Bi0QBHrEnM
— RMc (@RMc2026) August 17, 2026
It remains unclear whether Belenkiy was registered as an EU customer or whether GDPR applied to his account. Bulgarian data protection authorities did not respond to questions about the case, while the European Data Protection Board declined to comment.
The case underscores the limits of privacy on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, where verified identity and transaction data can remain accessible to law enforcement even after a platform formally exits a market.
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