A 37-year-old resident of Mirninsky District, an administrative and municipal district in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia, has been sentenced to seven years behind bars for donating cryptocurrencies to support a Ukrainian armed forces organization. Notably, this is the first public ruling in Russia against crypto donations to an armed organization.
Seven Years Imprisonment
According to local news media, the detainee works with a Russian-based diamond mining company and has repeatedly transferred funds to the Ukrainian militants, specifically, a unit of the Ukrainian military, Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), to help them gather information and disrupt Russia’s national security.
The report shows that the man was influenced after joining a terrorist organization via a social network platform. Other members of the community instructed and taught him how to transfer funds via cryptocurrencies to the Ukrainian militants. He has gone scott-free with the act over some time.
Following his detention, the forces noted that it is “a criminal case under Article 275 (‘High treason in the form of providing financial assistance to a foreign state, international or foreign organization or their representatives in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation’) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.” Hence his detention and sentencing.
Russia’s Stance on Crypto
Earlier in August 2024, Russia revealed plans to test the use of crypto to repay foreign debts and settle ongoing international transactions. This involves converting the Russian Ruble to crypto. Notably, the country took the step to circumvent the sanctions on its ability to process cross-border transactions.
The country then strived to regulate crypto transactions within its region and approved a 15% tax on crypto transactions and mining. The mining tax will be calculated based on the current value of BTC at the time of charging. Remarkably, crypto selling and mining are exempt from value-added tax (VAT). However, due to the high energy consumption, the authorities have launched a power consumption cap for miners, allowing unregistered users to use no more than 6,000 kilowatt-hours.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed a bill into law that recognizes cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, as property.
