UK man in court charged with sending crypto to Russian separatists

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LONDON (Reuters) -A Russian-British dual national appeared in a London court on Tuesday charged with sending cryptocurrency for separatist militias fighting alongside the Russian army in eastern Ukraine to buy weapons and military equipment.

Mikhail Vlasov is charged with eight counts of breaching British sanctions imposed on the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, which prosecutors described as “self-proclaimed, pro-Russian separatist states” in Ukraine.

The 53-year-old appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and indicated a not guilty plea to all eight charges, which relate to payments totalling roughly 4,000 pounds ($5,510) made between April 2022 and April 2023.

Prosecutor Anja Hohmeyer said Vlasov sent cryptocurrency to pro-Russian organisations for “military equipment for militia groups operating in the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic”.

She added that the organisations to which Vlasov sent money had made it clear on their websites that funds received would be used to pay for “drones, ammunition, weapons (and) uniforms”.

“This is about somebody deliberately engaging in conduct that he knows is circumventing sanctions, but it is also assisting the war effort of the Russian army in eastern Ukraine,” she added.

Hohmeyer said the charges were the second time someone had been charged in Britain with breaching sanctions against Russia, which began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and now holds about 19% of the country.

Vlasov was granted bail to appear next in court later this month.

He is listed on Companies House as a Russian national and sole director of a limited company which was dissolved in 2019. His lawyer said Vlasov became a British citizen in 2019.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Mark Heinrich)