Binance freezes cryptocurrency assets of a Russian who supported the war in Ukraine

Vladislav Lobayev, a Russian citizen, raised $ 21,700 in cryptocurrency to support Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine. Recently, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) issued a press release informing that the agency «blocked a crypto wallet belonging to a Russian citizen who sponsors Russia’s war in Ukraine.» It turned out that the cryptocurrency wallet belonged to Lobayev and was operated by Binance.

After Ukrainian law enforcement authorities identified the attacker, they apparently convinced Binance to freeze the account, which had received $ 21,700 in bitcoin, ether, and USDT.

The media contacted Lobayev through a chatbot on his Telegram channel and received a response from a person who introduced himself as Lobayev’s son, Yevgeny. He confirmed that his «father's» Binance account had been frozen. When asked how he managed to transfer cryptocurrencies from the Binance account into cash, «Evgeny Lobayev» said that he used over-the-counter brokers. He added that cryptocurrencies made up a «small part» of all «donations» to the war. It turned out that Lobayev also uses the Russian payment service Yoomoney and an account with the Russian Sberbank.

Lobaev is the founder of the private company Lobaev Arms, which produces rifles and other military ammunition. In his Telegram channel, the attacker actively supports Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and even renamed his channel to «Lobaev Z», adding a letter that has become an unofficial symbol of Russia during this war. In his Telegram channel, Lobayev praises Russian troops, analyzes the weapons used by the Ukrainian army, and speaks negatively about Ukraine, NATO, and the LGBT community.

It is worth noting that the cryptocurrency exchange Binance stopped accepting Russian bank cards in the spring of 2022 after international sanctions against Russia and the withdrawal of MasterCard and Visa payment systems from the country.