Binance Gave Russia Customer Data Used to Prosecute Ukraine Donor

Binance handed Russian authorities a customer’s personal and transaction records in 2025, years after the exchange said it had fully exited the country. The information was used to prosecute a man who had sent donations to the Ukrainian military.

Yuri Belenkiy, an IT specialist with a Russian passport and a Bulgarian residence permit, was detained by Russian authorities in 2025. Russia’s Investigative Committee accused him of sending more than $700 to the Ukrainian military and an affiliated unit known as Azov, which Russia designates as a terrorist organization. The payments allegedly took place between January 2023 and March 2024.

Binance announced in September 2023 that it was exiting Russia, selling its business to CommEX. The move was widely seen as a response to Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Leaving the market meant Binance was no longer required to provide customer data to Russian authorities.

A Reuters investigation found that in 2025, Binance voluntarily provided Russian authorities with Belenkiy’s personal and transaction records. The exchange told Reuters it was only responding to a lawful request. Russian authorities, not Binance, were responsible for how the data was used, the company said.

Mike Bystrov, founder of law firm Stellar Consulting, which advises on crypto regulation, said Binance was under no obligation to provide Belenkiy’s data after leaving Russia. The exchange may have been prohibited from doing so under EU data protection law, Bystrov said. Belenkiy holds a Bulgarian residence permit. If he was registered with Binance as an EU resident, the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) would apply. That would prohibit Binance from disclosing his details without a court order, Bystrov said.

Binance did not say whether providing Belenkiy’s data could have violated GDPR rules. Reuters could not determine whether Belenkiy was registered with Binance as an EU customer.

As of July 1, 2026, Binance can no longer legally provide services in the EU after the transition period under the bloc’s MiCA regulatory framework expired. Crypto exchanges without a CASP license have been barred from legally offering services across the European Economic Area. In late June, Binance withdrew its MiCA license application in Greece and suspended core services for EU users.

Russia’s criminal code broadly defines terrorist financing as covering transfers to individuals or organizations on the state’s “terrorist and extremist” list. The list includes anti-corruption, LGBT, opposition and media organizations. Ukraine and Western governments regard Azov as a legitimate military formation. Amnesty International said in 2024 that more than 90% of cases brought under Russia’s anti-terrorism laws involved no actual or planned terrorist attack. Instead, they concerned online comments or donations to opposition groups.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, triggering Western sanctions targeting Russian banks and access to global financial markets. After the invasion, Binance stopped accepting Russia-issued Visa and Mastercard cards and restricted accounts with balances above €10,000. In September 2023, Binance announced it was fully exiting the Russian market and selling its business to CommEX. The platform looked strikingly similar to Binance, raising questions about whether the exchange had truly left Russia. Then-CEO Changpeng Zhao said BNB users would continue to receive a 25% discount on trading fees on CommEX. CommEX shut down its operations in 2024. That September, Binance confirmed it was still serving a limited number of Russian users, citing the need to protect their assets.

The case leaves open questions about how far a company’s data obligations extend after a commercial exit. Binance said it complied with a lawful request. The GDPR implications remain unresolved.