A Russian resident in eastern Russia has been detained over allegations that he used to fund Ukraine’s military cryptocurrencies. According to a Russian newspaper donated the compassionate man to an organization that bought military and medical equipment for the Ukrainian army.
Russian donates crypto to Ukrainian army
On June 21 in the Sovetsko-Gavansky district in eastern Russia, a Russian citizen named Alexander Vecherko was captured by the Russian intelligence agency FSB (formerly known as KGB). The man donated to an organization that bought night vision devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, ammunition and medical equipment for the Ukrainian army. The man donated to the organization via cryptocurrency, likely using Tether’s USDT stablecoin.
The FSB has arrested the man for treason. According to the law, the man can be sentenced to between 12 and 20 years in prison. However, a new maximum has been set from the beginning of April this year. The new maximum makes it possible to sentence traitors to life imprisonment. The adjustment was mainly instituted because of the war in Ukraine, where desertion and betrayal within the Russian army is a common phenomenon.
More than $70 million donated already
The FSB was able to trace the donations to the Ukrainian military due to the public availability of all transactions. After the money flow was spotted by the FSB, the names behind the wallets were deciphered. Not long after, the intelligence service was able to arrest the Russian. To conceal his donation, the man might have better used so-called privacy tokens such as monero (XMR) or zcash (ZEC), which obscure both the identity of the recipient and sender as well as the size of the transaction.
Since the conflict broke out in Ukraine, the country has more than $70 million receive crypto donations. Most of this has been used to support the Ukrainian army and provide humanitarian aid. The Ukrainian government has set up a number of crypto fundraiser platforms where people can donate money to Ukraine. These include the official website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation and the non-profit organization Come Back Alive.