Reuters: Binance Said It “Exited Russia”: Two Responses Formed the Basis for Arrest in Russia

According to a Reuters report based on law enforcement documents, Binance provided Russian authorities with the identity and transaction records of Yuri Belenkiy; this information was used in the arrest of the Russian IT specialist who donated to Ukraine.

Reuters reported that the exchange identified Belenkiy as the source of transfers exceeding $700 and shared his date of birth, address, phone number, passport number, along with copies of his Russian passport and Bulgarian residence permit.

The Russian Investigative Committee alleged that the payments were made between January 2023 and March 2024 to the Ukrainian army and a group linked to the Azov Brigade, which Moscow classifies as a terrorist organization. Due to donations associated with Arkady Babchenko’s appeal, Belenkiy was detained in September 2025 on terrorism financing charges and remains in prison.

Binance’s exit from Russia contradicted by data channel

The most striking detail in the documents was the data channel that remained active even after the CommEX sale. Binance’s website directed Russian and Belarusian law enforcement agencies to the [email protected] address. Investigators applied to this address to request Belenkiy’s transaction history and received two responses.

Binance announced in September 2023 that it had sold its Russian business to CommEX and that operating in the country did not align with its compliance strategy. The company also stated that there would be no revenue sharing or an option to buy back the business. Therefore, the data sharing raised questions about the contradiction between the exchange’s Russia exit statement and the actual data flow.

The exchange’s current law enforcement guidelines require a valid court order, police order, or search warrant to share user information in criminal investigations. Binance told Reuters that it cooperates with legal requests in accordance with applicable law, privacy, and regulatory requirements; however, it did not comment on the Belenkiy file. Whether the request met the criteria in the guidelines or violated European data protection rules was left unaddressed.