UK sanctions crypto exchanges and payment firms it links to Russia's A7 network
The UK announced 38 new Russia sanctions designations on 8 October 2026. They include three crypto exchanges and two payment platforms, two of which the UK says processed transactions with the A7 illicit finance network.
On 8 October 2026, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) announced 38 new designations under the UK's Russia sanctions regime. A designation means the person or company is added to the UK Sanctions List, and UK persons must then apply the listed measures, such as freezing their assets.
The FCDO said the package includes three crypto exchanges and two payment platforms, three of them linked to Kyrgyzstan. It said two of these have processed and facilitated transactions with the A7 network. The FCDO describes A7 as a Kremlin-backed illicit finance network used to get around international sanctions, and says the network claimed to have moved more than $90 billion last year.
The UK Sanctions List notice for the same day names Xeltox Enterprises Ltd, a company with a Canadian address listed under the names Cryptomus and Heleket, and TokenSpot CJSC, Tsunami Payments LLC and OJSC Processing KG, all with addresses in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Ulan Arymbaevich Bukabaev was also designated because, according to the notice, he works as a director of OJSC Processing KG. The notice lists an asset freeze among the measures applied to each of these companies.
The same package adds two Russian oil companies, Zarubezhneft and INK Capital, and 12 shadow fleet tankers, which the FCDO says brings the number of tankers it has sanctioned to over 600. It also covers 17 entities and individuals that the FCDO says supply goods used by Russia's military, known as Common High Priority (CHP) goods.
Why it matters to AML professionals
Sanctions on crypto exchanges and payment processors mean screening must cover wallet addresses, websites and trading names, not just legal entity names. Payments that pass through newly listed processors can reach a sanctioned party even when the customer and the counterparty look clean. AML professionals in banks, payment firms and crypto businesses should check past and current exposure as soon as a list update is published.
Red flags in this case
- Customer payments or crypto deposits routed through an exchange or payment processor that has just been added to a sanctions list
- A merchant or payment provider that operates under several trading names or websites with one legal entity behind them
- Rapid conversion of fiat into stablecoins through exchanges registered in third countries with close trade links to a sanctioned economy
- Counterparties in third countries whose activity grows sharply after new sanctions are imposed on the main jurisdiction
If this landed in your queue
- Screen customers, counterparties and payment processors against the updated UK Sanctions List, including all aliases and listed websites
- Run a look-back on transactions and wallet activity linked to the newly listed names and their trading names
- Freeze any matched assets and report to OFSI in line with your firm's sanctions procedures
- Escalate indirect exposure, such as customers who pay through a listed processor, for review and possible suspicious activity reporting
Key terms
- Designation
- Adding a person, company or ship to a sanctions list so that sanctions measures apply to it.
- Asset freeze
- A ban on dealing with the funds or economic resources of a designated person, or making funds available to them.
- Shadow fleet
- Ships used to move sanctioned oil, often older vessels with unclear ownership.
Interview angle
A crypto exchange your customers use has just been sanctioned under several trading names. What do you do?
Explain screening on all aliases, websites and wallet addresses, a look-back on past activity, freezing and reporting any direct matches, and escalating indirect exposure for investigation.
Sources
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