- Pro-Russian Militant groups are raising funds in cryptocurrency to shore up paramilitary operations.
- Also to evade U.S. sanctions as the war with Ukraine wages on, as researched by TRM Labs.
TRM Labs Research
According to the research by TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence company, with the help of encrypted messaging app Telegram, the Pro-Russian group offers multiple ways for people to send funds. The fund was then used to supply Russian-affiliated militia groups and also provide support for combat training at the nearby locations of the Ukraine border. Also, from the start of the invasion on February 24, 2022 the pro-Russian group raised around $400,000 as of September 22.
The TRM Labs named raising funds Task Force Rusich which the U.S. Treasury describes as a “neo-Nazi paramilitary group that has participated in combat alongside Russia’s military in Ukraine.” While it must be noted that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFCA) sanctioned Task Force Rusich.
As per the research by TRM Labs, this group raised the money for thermal imaging equipment and radios. Additionally, the report added the Novorossia Aid Coordinating Center, that supports Russian operations in Ukraine, raised nearly $21,000 in digital assets, for the most part in bitcoin and looking for buying drones.
Ari Redbord, Head of Legal and Government Affairs at TRM Labs said in his recent interview with CNBC, “They’re probably using non-compliant exchanges to off-ramp those funds [into fiat currency]. And you can do that. You just can’t do that at scale. And I think that’s that that’s where … we’ll say, will there be more? Of course, there’ll be more. But will it be billions of dollars? Highly unlikely.”
He lastly ended as “I think an interesting part of this story is that crypto is just a form of payment in these cases. It’s a way to move funds. And there’s an example of it being used for good and example of it being used for bad in this context.”
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/10/03/russian-paramilitary-group-raising-fund-in-crypto-trm-labs/