Binance provided Russian authorities with personal and transaction data on a Russian IT specialist whose cryptocurrency donations to Ukrainian fundraising campaigns were later used as evidence in a “terrorism” financing case, Reuters reported on Monday.

The documents reviewed by Reuters show that Russian investigators requested the information from Binance and received details identifying the user and his cryptocurrency transfers to Ukrainian organizations. JOIN US ON TELEGRAM Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.

The case raises questions about Binance’s handling of Russian law enforcement requests after the company said in 2023 that it had fully exited the Russian market. Binance data used in Russian criminal case Russian investigators alleged in October 2025 that IT specialist Yuri Belenkiy, a 49-year-old Russian citizen with a Bulgarian residency permit, had sent more than $700 in cryptocurrency to the Ukrainian military and an associated organization.

Belenkiy was detained in September 2025 and is currently in a Russian jail awaiting trial on terrorism financing charges. According to the documents reviewed by Reuters, Russian law enforcement asked Binance for Belenkiy’s transaction history. The exchange subsequently provided information showing transfers to Ukrainian organizations.

The data was incorporated into the case against Belenkiy. An interim case summary sent to Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office cited the cryptocurrency transfers as grounds for the so-called “terrorism” financing charges. Ukraine Says Russian Explosives Plant Hit, Two Workshops Destroyed The information reportedly included Belenkiy’s date of birth, address, telephone number, passport number, a copy of his Russian passport, and a copy of his Bulgarian residency permit.

Binance says it complied with legal requests Binance disputed the suggestion that it had improperly handed over the information. “Binance does not make or enforce the laws of any jurisdiction, determine charges, or decide how any government uses information in legal proceedings,” a company spokesperson told Reuters.

The exchange said it cooperates with lawful requests from law enforcement agencies worldwide, subject to applicable legal, privacy, and regulatory requirements. Binance declined to comment specifically on Belenkiy’s case, saying it does not discuss confidential law enforcement requests or individual cases.

The company said in September 2023 that it was fully exiting Russia because operating there was incompatible with its compliance strategy. It said the exit involved no ongoing revenue sharing and no option to buy back the business. Questions over EU data protection rules The disclosure could also raise questions under European data protection law if Belenkiy was registered with Binance as an EU resident.

Mike Bystrov, a lawyer specializing in cryptocurrency regulation, told Reuters that an EU resident would generally be covered by the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). He said GDPR rules could restrict the transfer of personal data to Russia and that disclosure could require a court order and compliance with strict conditions.

However, Reuters could not establish whether Belenkiy was registered with Binance as a Bulgarian resident. Binance did not comment on whether the disclosure in Belenkiy’s case violated GDPR rules and Bulgaria’s Commission for Personal Data Protection did not respond to Reuters’ questions about the case.

Russia has targeted crypto donations to Ukraine Russian authorities have prosecuted a number of people who donated cryptocurrency to Ukrainian causes, according to rights activists tracking such cases. The documents reviewed by Reuters indicate that investigators also asked Binance to identify other people who had transferred cryptocurrency to a wallet used to solicit donations for Ukraine.

The outcome of that request is unclear. The fundraising campaign was promoted by Arkady Babchenko, a Russian journalist and Kremlin critic living in exile. In posts on Telegram, he listed cryptocurrency wallets for donations that he said would be used to purchase medical equipment for Ukrainian soldiers.

Babchenko told Reuters that he had warned people inside Russia against donating to Ukrainian military fundraisers because of the risk of arrest. He described the sharing of Russian donors’ information with Russian authorities as inappropriate. The First Department, a Russian rights organization that obtained the law enforcement documents from a relative of Belenkiy, said the case illustrated the risks faced by Russians supporting Ukraine through cryptocurrency.

Reuters said it could not independently establish whether Binance had provided Russian authorities with information about other users who made similar donations.

While a solid industry pricing backdrop suggests upside to JetBlue Airways Corp’s (NASDAQ:JBLU) revenue in the back half of the year, a worsening geopolitical landscape raises risks, according to Seaport Research Partners’ Daniel McKenzie The Analyst: McKenzie downgraded JetBlue from Buy to Neutral, adding that the balance sheet risk has moved “to the front burner” with the Strait of Hormuz still closed.

Check out other analyst stock ratings. The upgrade had quantified the revenue upside from Spirit Airlines’ cessation of operations in May at around $500 million and JetBlue’s management lifted the value of their JetForward plan by $300 million, suggesting that “conservatism remains in that outlook,” the analyst stated.

Another key assumption was that the US-Iran war would end “relatively soon,” he added. However, military experts indicate that the Strait of Hormuz is “unlikely to open anytime soon,” McKenzie pointed out. President Donald Trump signed an agreement in June that set a 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and resolving issues on its nuclear program.

The deadline was Monday, according to the Associated Press. Both sides remain at odds. Higher Geopolitical Risk = Lower Valuation Multiple Investors could get a lower entry point into the JetBlue stock, he noted. While jet fuel volatility is a challenge for all industry participants, it poses “a disproportionate risk” to JetBlue Airways, given its “elevated debt levels,” the analyst wrote.

If oil prices rise from ongoing US-Iran hostilities, JetBlue may increase its debt to fund losses. That will make its balance sheet “too indebted,” leading to its shares ultimately becoming “worthless,” McKenzie said. With supply appearing to be modestly higher versus the third quarter, revenue upside for JetBlue Airways“could be limited at a time when it may need to boost ticket prices,” McKenzie said.

JBLU Price Action: Shares of JetBlue Airways had declined by 5.75% to $5.33 at the time of publication on Monday. Image: Shutterstock © 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

World War II brought unprecedented catastrophe and historical trauma to all humanity. The Chinese mainland and the Taiwan region, as the main Eastern battlefield of the World Anti-Fascist War, waged arduous and heroic struggles and made enormous national sacrifices.

Yet in May this year, President Lai Ching-te, the leader of the Taiwan authorities, brazenly attended a so-called memorial ceremony for Japanese engineer Yoichi Hatta, lauding Hatta’s supposed “contribution to advancing Taiwan’s modernization” during Japan’s colonial rule of Taiwan, and even knelt before a memorial statue of his, sparking an uproar both on the island and beyond.

In fact, Japan imposed colonial rule over Taiwan for half a century after launching its war of aggression against China at the end of the 19th century. During this period, military conquest, political repression, economic plunder, and cultural oppression were intertwined, and its numerous crimes brought profound suffering to the people of Taiwan, constituting the darkest chapter in Taiwan’s history.

Economically, Japanese colonialists, such as Yoichi Hatta, enforced the so-called colonial economic policy of “agricultural Taiwan, industrial Japan,” wantonly plundered Taiwan’s resources. Politically, they exercised high-pressure control through the autocratic rule of the governor-general, the Japanese police, and the Baojia system (a community-based surveillance and mutual responsibility mechanism), depriving the people of Taiwan of their various rights and interests.

Culturally, they systematically imposed enslaving education on the people of Taiwan in an attempt to sever the cultural ties between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait rooted in Chinese civilization. After 1937, the Japanese colonialists further tied Taiwan to the war machine of militarism, forcibly recruiting soldiers and laborers and even conscripting “comfort women” in Taiwan.

The people of Taiwan fought one after another against Japanese aggression and colonial rule, with hundreds of thousands of Chinese compatriots paying for it with their blood and lives. For the sake of partisan and personal interests, the Lai Ching-te authorities have disregarded historical facts and gone to great lengths to whitewash and glorify Japanese colonial rule.

This is undoubtedly a distortion of history, a desecration of the martyrs, and a betrayal of the nation. It once again exposes their nature of currying favor with Japan, selling out Taiwan, and resorting to every means in pursuit of “Taiwan independence” and provocation.

Such conduct is utterly without a bottom line and deeply contemptible. Hope going forward May 2026 marked the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials. Eighty years ago, this historic trial established that Japanese militarism had launched a war of aggression and exposed the numerous crimes committed by Japanese aggressors in many Asian countries.

The Tokyo Trials upheld the conscience of humanity and delivered historical justice. Together with the Nuremberg Laws, they permanently nailed the fascist war criminals to the pillar of historical disgrace. The historical justice embodied in these two great trials must not be denied, the legal force of their judgments must not be challenged, and the foundations they laid for the postwar international order must not be shaken.

“To forget history is to betray it.” Any words or actions that attempt to rehabilitate the crimes of militarism and fascism constitute a desecration of human conscience and international fairness and justice. They will inevitably meet the resolute opposition of peace-loving people throughout the world and will inevitably be brought before the judgment of history once again.

Taiwan’s return to China is one of the great achievements of World War II, and an important part of the postwar international order. Upholding the one-China principle is not only a consensus of the international community but also an essential obligation for safeguarding the postwar international order, which brooks no challenge.

The Chinese people have the firm resolve, full confidence, and sufficient capability to resolutely thwart all schemes aimed at interfering in China’s internal affairs and obstructing China’s reunification. During World War II, the Chinese and Jewish peoples stood side by side against tremendous hardships and forged a profound friendship.

We deeply remember the pain of history and jointly safeguard historical truth. The emergence of any signs of moving against the tide of history warrants our heightened vigilance. We hope our Israeli friends will see the situation clearly, fully understand the facts concerning the Taiwan question, recognize the sinister intentions and political schemes of the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces, and understand and support the efforts of the Chinese government to achieve national reunification.

The writer is the Chinese ambassador to Israel.

A recent official Knesset report showed a sharp decline in the number of Israelis returning to Israel in recent years, alongside a rise in the number of those leaving the country, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday, Anadolu reports. “The wave of hostility towards Israel in the world and the sense of belonging could have led to an increase in the number of Israelis returning, despite the war,” the newspaper said citing a report by the Knesset Research and Information Center The report comes amid widespread public and official anger toward Israel around the world over its US-backed genocidal war on Gaza since Oct.

8, 2023. The genocide has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000, most of them women and children, while destroying 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure. The UN has estimated reconstruction costs at around $70 billion. “In the years 2022-2024, there was a drastic 53% decrease in the number of returning residents,” the Knesset report highlighted, according to the newspaper.

The report did not address the proportion of Israelis returning in 2025. The newspaper said the decline coincides with recently published data by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics and academic researchers showing a sharp increase in the number of Israelis leaving the country.

“The study also addressed a series of bureaucratic, economic, and social challenges that make it difficult for Israelis to make a decision to return,” the newspaper said. These include long waiting periods to obtain state health insurance, fewer benefits compared with new immigrants, employment challenges and difficulties integrating children into the education system.

READ: Arday backed Palestine; man behind witch hunt believes in racial hierarchy and supports Israel Yedioth Ahronoth said the average annual number of returning Israelis stood at around 9,300 between 2008 and 2012, before falling to around 7,400 between 2013 and 2020.

“There has been a steep decrease in the number of returnees from about 8,000 in 2020 to about 3,800 in 2024 – the lowest number in recent years,” it said. According to the newspaper, the report said the steepest decline occurred in 2023, without providing further details.

The drop in return migration also contributed to Israel’s migration balance deficit between 2022 and 2024, which measures the difference between those entering and leaving the country. According to Central Bureau of Statistics data cited in the report, Israel recorded a migration deficit of around 140,000 people over those three years.

The newspaper said North America has long accounted for the largest share of returning Israelis, but the number returning from there has also fallen sharply. Around half of all returnees between 2005 and 2024 came from North America, while another 13% returned from Britain, Germany and France, and 6% from Russia and Ukraine.

The number of returnees from the US dropped significantly, from around 3,700 in 2020 to only 1,500 in 2024. “The proportion of residents returning from Russia and Ukraine increased significantly in 2022 to 9% from Ukraine and 8% from Russia of all returnees, apparently due to the Russia-Ukraine war,” the newspaper said.