The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had recruited Pavan in late April 2024, after the Canadian—who was then 17 years old—had travelled to Donetsk to volunteer for the pro-Russian Interbrigades, after becoming radicalized online over the course of 2023. This is where Pavan’s brief life as a Russian spy ends, but Global Ledger and Recoveris were able to trace the $500 in Bitcoin sent by Slon to two intermediary BTC wallets, which in turn had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in BTC from a large address created in June 2022. Russia’s use of cryptocurrencies also extends to financing private mercenaries fighting in the Donbas region on the Russian side of the war in Ukraine, and even paying off politicians in Europe to spread pro-Russian and anti-Ukraine messages.
Author: Simon Chandler
Published at: 2025-06-14 20:03:19
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