Russia’s FSB Charges Scientist with Treason for ‘Sending crypto to Ukraine’
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) recently announced that they have charged a scientist based in Moscow with “treason” for allegedly sending cryptoassets to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to reports from Vedomosti, the FSB detained an employee of a scientific organization in Moscow who was accused of regularly transferring personal funds and cryptocurrency to wallets operated by the Ukrainian army.
Russia’s FSB: Scientist Sent crypto, Helped Launch DDoS Attacks
The FSB also claimed that the scientist participated in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks on a critical Russian structure. DDoS attacks involve flooding servers with traffic to crash sites or prevent web users from accessing them, posing a significant threat to online services.
However, the FSB did not disclose details regarding the amount of crypto the scientist allegedly sent or specify which cryptocurrencies were involved in the transactions. Additionally, the agency refrained from revealing the name of the scientific institutions where the scientist worked or identifying the critical Russian structure targeted in the DDoS attack.
“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case against an employee of a scientific organization on the grounds of a crime under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.” - Public Relations Center, FSB
Media outlets reported that the crime is classified as “high treason” under Russian law, with the FSB alleging that the suspect established contact with Ukraine’s special services. Acting on Ukrainian agents’ instructions, the scientist conducted DDoS attacks on critical Russian facilities with the goal of undermining the information security of the Russian Federation.
Furthermore, the FSB stated that the scientist collected information about Russian military personnel and the movement of military equipment. The agency claimed that the crypto donations sent by the scientist were used in Ukraine for purchasing weapons and military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Suspect Has Made a Confession – Agents
The FSB revealed that the scientist provided a confession to the authorities, leading to his remand in custody as a preventive measure. This incident marks another case of individuals facing treason charges in connection to alleged support for Kyiv since the conflict with Ukraine began.
In a previous case in 2023, the FSB charged an individual from the far eastern region of Khabarovsk Krai with crypto-related offenses. Additionally, Russia’s Sberbank reported last year that over $5 million worth of crypto had been sent from Russian-based wallets to recipients in Ukraine following the onset of the conflict.
A Ukrainian crypto industry insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, disclosed to Cryptonews.com that crypto usage is seeing a significant increase in both Russia and Ukraine, reflecting the evolving landscape of digital asset adoption in the region.
