Ukraine sanctions 60 crypto companies for aiding Russia

Ukraine has sanctioned 60 crypto companies, including 55 Russian entities, for helping Russia move funds in crypto assets. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly signed the decree sanctioning the companies.

According to Decree No. 465/2025, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council is applying “personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)” on these entities. This will translate into asset freezing and a ban on the economic activity of the entities.

The country will also inform its allies, including the European Union and the US, to apply similar restrictions on the entities. Ukraine’s commissioner for Sanctions Policy, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, provided more information on the affected entities, noting that five crypto exchanges helped Russian entities evade sanctions.

Nineteen entities were crypto miners involved in a sanctions evasion scheme, while 17 operate information systems for issuing digital assets already under US sanctions. Another 19 firms also play different roles within the Russian financial ecosystem, from manufacturing payment equipment and organizing blocked asset exchanges to serving as intermediaries for international payments under sanctions.

Interestingly, the five non-Russian entities on the sanctioned list are also under restrictions from the US. These entities include Token Trust Holdings Limited in Cyprus, EXMO RBC Limited in Kazakhstan, AWX Solutions, Crypto Explorer DMCC, and Bitpapa IC FZC in the UAE.

Zelenskyy claims Russia has moved billions through one company

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy also disclosed the sanctions in a separate speech, noting that it was based on the recommendations of the National Bank of Ukraine. According to him, the country also worked with its partners on the sanctions list.

He noted that Russia has been moving billions of dollars for its military needs through one of the companies now included on the sanctions list. He said:

“Just through one single company, now included in the sanctions list, and only since the beginning of this year, that is, before the sanctions being imposed, the Russians funneled several billion dollars, primarily for the needs of their military-industrial complex.”

Zelenskyy added that the fact that much of Russia’s traditional financial infrastructure is already restricted due to sanctions has led them to cryptocurrencies. Beyond the 60 crypto entities, the sanctions list also includes 73 individuals who are all Russian citizens and include several top members of the country’s central bank.

While the president acknowledged the difficulty of uniformly imposing these sanctions globally, he noted that Ukraine and its allies share a common goal that makes it achievable. He said:

“We will also synchronize sanctions against them. It’s a challenging task – sanctioning regulations vary around the world – but we all share a common goal: to compel Russia to stop the war and to severely restrict its capabilities.”

Meanwhile, he added that Ukraine is already working on implementing EU sanctions on Russia within its jurisdiction, just as the EU will also apply Ukraine sanctions in its jurisdiction. “Sanctions are already depriving Russia of its future,” he said, “they must significantly complicate the daily functioning of the Russian system.”

Stablecoin pegged to the Russian ruble moves over $9 billion

Interestingly, the expansive sanctions against Russia-linked crypto entities are unsurprising given the evidence that Russia is turning to crypto to evade global financial sanctions. While the country has been quietly adopting crypto since the war started in 2022, recent reports suggest it might be doubling down on that approach.

According to a report by Financial Times, a new stablecoin pegged to the Russian ruble, A7A5, has moved $9.3 billion in just four months after its launch on Grinex crypto exchange. The stablecoin was launched in Kyrgyzstan by fugitive Moldovan Oligarch Ilan Sor with its reserve assets on a Russia-based and US-sanctioned bank, Promsvyazbank.

The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) report noted that more than 12 billion tokens are in circulation, worth around $156 million, and just a few users are moving funds around with them.

KEY Difference Wire helps crypto brands break through and dominate headlines fast