FSB claims to have dismantled clandestine crypto network financing Ukraine

The fog of war. The scenario has the appearance of a replay. The FSB, the Russian federal security service, claims to have dismantled a network of clandestine crypto exchange offices. He allegedly siphoned off the savings of Russian retirees to send them to Ukraine. This is a scenario that Moscow has regularly replayed since the start of the conflict. More than 20 people were arrested, without any public evidence to support the accusation of Ukrainian coordination.

The story of the FSB: a crypto network dismantled, between arrests and gray areas

The arrests took place in Moscow City, the Russian capital's skyscraper business district. The FSB and the Interior Ministry say they have also closed nine circuits used to transfer funds abroad via cryptoassets.

According to the security service, call centers based in Ukraine remotely targeted Russians, primarily retirees. The victims were kept on the phone while convincing them to go to these exchange offices to buy crypto, then transfer it to accounts controlled by the network.

“Young people from Russian regions in search of easy money are recruited remotely to work in these exchange offices, despite limited financial literacy,” explained the FSB in its press release. Disposable performers, recruited online, not editing masterminds. Neither platform name, nor specific cryptocurrency, nor total amount stolen. In fact, the FSB has not provided any tangible evidence to support its thesis of Ukrainian coordination.

Russia-Ukraine: two crypto wars, two levels of proof

Let’s understand the context. Moscow has multiplied this type of announcement since the start of the conflict. The Ukrainian-origin platform WhiteBit had already been classified “undesirable” in January 2026, a status reserved for entities deemed hostile to Russian interests. A year earlier, in January 2025, a resident of the Republic of Sakha was sentenced to seven years in prison for transferring cryptocurrencies to Ukrainian forces. A case almost identical to that announced on Friday.

On the other side of the front, the crypto battle is being fought with names and numbers. According to the Kyiv Independent, a decree signed on June 15 by Volodymyr Zelensky extended Ukrainian sanctions to the entire Russian financial sector, including cryptoassets. This text is based on the proposals of the National Bank of Ukraine.

kyiv is particularly targeting the A7 network, built around the ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5 and co-led by Ilan Shor, already known for the Moldovan bank fraud of 2014. According to Ukrainian sanctions official Vladyslav Vlasiuk, this network is used in particular to pay for Russian electronic components for military use. The monthly trading volume would exceed $5 billion.

Difficult to compare the two files on an equal footing. On the one hand, a Russian accusation without a named platform or publicized evidence. On the other, an identified stablecoin, a shareholder known to international justice, a Russian state bank that partially owns the arrangement, and quantified orders of magnitude. Both sides use the same weapon. Only one documents the caliber.