Russia’s FSB raids Moscow City crypto exchanges, saying they were used to funnel stolen money to Ukraine. Some detainees believed they were working for the FSB.

Russia's Federal Security Service says it has dismantled a cryptocurrency money-laundering network operating out of Moscow City. Meduza reports the FSB detained more than twenty people at crypto exchange offices, claiming the exchanges were used to convert money stolen by Ukrainian scammers and funnel it out of the country. Investigators say young people with limited financial literacy were recruited from Russian regions to staff the exchanges and serve as couriers, collecting stolen funds from defrauded citizens—many of them retirees. But some detainees claim they themselves were scammed: one man says he was contacted by people posing as FSB officers who convinced him to move his money, and only later realized the "officers" were criminals. Those charged face up to ten years in prison.

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