Ukrainian law enforcers uncover terrorism financing scheme through cryptocurrency conversion

Agents of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and employees of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) have uncovered the mechanism for financing the "DPR/LPR" terrorist organizations through the conversion of cryptocurrency. 

Ukraine's Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios said this at a briefing on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"In close cooperation with the SBU's department for information security, following an investigation that was conducted last year and entered its final stage just a few days ago, a number of searches conducted in Kyiv city, Kyiv region and Cherkasy were completed today. According to their results, [law enforcers] stopped the activity connected with the use of equipment for mining cryptocurrency, part of which was channeled through the digital wallets KIWI and Yandex.Money, which are officially banned on Ukrainian territory, for the financing of illegal armed units 'LPR/DPR' precisely for procurement of military uniforms, equipment, weapons and ammunition," Matios said.

According to him, following searches conducted at a Kyiv-based enterprise, namely PJSC Kvazar, law enforcers found and seized over 400 "farms" for cryptocurrency mining, over 1,000 power units, over 1,000 video cards, about 1,500 hard drives, about 500 motherboards, as well as "laptops, system units, documents, including those that confirm the transfer of funds to the territory with banking requisites of the Russian Federation."

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