A Russian court docket has prolonged the detention interval of a industrial pilot who was arrested for allegedly sending crypto to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Federal Safety Service (FSB) arrested the person in Krasnodar, Southern Russia, on suspicion of “treason” late final month.
Pilot Despatched Crypto to Ukraine, FSB Claims
On the finish of January, a court docket dominated that the FSB might maintain the pilot in custody till February 16, 2025.

However the Russian state-aligned newspaper RIA Novosti, citing a “supply within the safety businesses,” stated a court docket had prolonged the detention interval “till April 16.”
The FSB claims that the pilot transformed rubles into an unnamed “cryptocurrency” on “a web based platform.”
The company stated the person was “the captain of a civil plane.” It claimed that the suspect “contacted an individual concerned in accumulating funds for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
The FSB claims that the pilot then “adopted the contact’s directions” to “alternate Russian rubles for cryptocurrency by way of an web platform.”
The pilot then reportedly “transferred the cash” to a “specified” crypto pockets operated by Ukrainian navy personnel.
Tons of of Russians Charged With Serving to Ukraine Military
In January, Reuters (by way of CNN) reported that per the Russian authorized affiliation Pervy Otdel, the Russian authorities have charged 792 folks with “treason, espionage, or cooperating with a international state” because the outbreak of battle in Ukraine in February 2022.
This quantity contains scores of crypto-related circumstances. The Armed Forces of Ukraine has been utilizing crypto wallets as donation platforms since early 2022.
The Worldwide Power Company has lowered its outlook for Russia’s oil manufacturing this yr by solely a slender margin even with sweeping western vitality sanctions https://t.co/z38S8JPr1L
— Bloomberg (@enterprise) February 13, 2025
Crypto Donations
Many Russians sympathetic to Ukraine seem to have used these channels to donate crypto.
Nonetheless, the FSB and police businesses declare they’ve refined blockchain analytics instruments that permit them monitor transactions on main protocols.
This, they declare, has helped them establish and arrest Russia-based people who’ve despatched cash to Ukrainian navy wallets.
In latest months, the FSB has arrested and charged a Moscow-based scientist for related alleged crimes.
It has additionally arrested a resident of Khabarovsk Krai on related prices, in addition to a diamond miner, who was arrested final month.
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