Binance blocks crypto accounts of relatives tied to the Russian government

cointelegraph.com:

Binance cryptocurrency exchange is adopting more measures to prevent the Russian government from mitigating the impact of sanctions through the use of crypto.

Binance has shut down several accounts tied to relatives of senior Kremlin officials over the past two months since Russia began military action in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

According to the report, the affected persons included Elizaveta Peskova, the daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and Polina Kovaleva, the stepdaughter of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Binance said it also blocked Kirill Malofeyev, the son of Konstantin Malofeyev, a Russian oligarch who was previously charged with violating sanctions from the United States.

“Proud to be a part of this team that makes a real difference,” Binance’s newly appointed global head of sanctions Chagri Poyraz wrote on his LinkedIn page on Binance’s latest measures.

Poyraz said that Binance blocked Peskova on March 3, when she tried to use the exchange through a third-party brokerage. She was then sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department on March 11 as part of sanctions against “Kremlin elites, leaders, oligarchs and family for enabling Putin’s war against Ukraine.”

Peskova subsequently expressed outrage about the Western sanctions, stating that such actions were “totally unfair and unfounded.” “I was really surprised because it’s weird introducing sanctions on someone who is 24 years old and has nothing to do with the situation,” she said. Peskova’s last Instagram post from March 12 reads one word: “Peace.”

According to Poyraz, Binance keeps monitoring its platform for more people associated with sanctioned individuals who may be using its services.

“What’s different is