The United States and the United Kingdom are investigating several cryptocurrency transactions worth more than $20 billion that went through a Russian virtual exchange, Bloomberg reported on March 28, UNN reports.
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The transactions were reportedly made through the Russian exchange group Garantex using the dollar-pegged cryptocurrency Tether. The United States and the United Kingdom have sanctioned transfers through Garantex on suspicion of facilitating financial crimes and illegal transfers to Russia.
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Western nations have launched several rounds of sanctions against Russia and individuals associated with Vladimir Putin since the start of the full-scale invasion in hopes of depleting revenue sources that are believed to have helped finance the war.
The EU recently adopted a package of sanctions targeting another 106 individuals and 88 organizations involved in Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The list includes companies from India, Sri Lanka, China, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, and Turkey.
The EU also imposed stricter restrictions on the export of dual-use goods and technologies for 27 entities that could contribute to the technological development of the Russian military sector, and imposed restrictions on the export of components used to develop and manufacture drones.
Ukraine's allies also froze about $300 billion in Russian assets back in February 2022, when the full-scale invasion began.