Cryptocurrency as a means of paying for a terrorist attack: a teenager from Liskov received 7 years in prison
The Second Western District Military Court has sentenced a 16-year-old resident of the city of Liski. The teenager was found guilty of preparing to blow up the car of a Russian serviceman and was sentenced to seven years in a juvenile correctional facility. In addition to the prison term, a significant fine was imposed. This case is a striking example of how digital assets are becoming a tool for financing serious crimes committed remotely.
How cryptocurrency became a "salary" for surveillance
The investigation established that in May 2025, the minor entered into correspondence in a messenger with representatives of Ukrainian special services. He was offered money to complete a task — organizing the explosion of a military vehicle. During May and June 2025, the young man secretly monitored vehicles in Voronezh, regularly photographed the target, and sent reports to his handlers.
The reward for gathering intelligence was transferred exclusively in cryptocurrency. The total amount of payments was at least $370. The choice of virtual currency for cross-border payments is completely logical: such transactions bypass the Russian banking system, conceal the sender's data, and blocking them is a complex technical challenge. For criminals, this is an ideal way to maintain anonymity.
Arrest and charges
The teenager was unable to carry out his plan. He managed to retrieve explosives and a ready-made improvised device from a cache in Liski, but at that moment he was intercepted by operatives from the regional FSB directorate. The materials from the special services formed the basis of the criminal case. The court found the defendant guilty of preparing a terrorist attack as part of an organized group and the illegal trafficking of explosive devices via the internet.
Financing such tasks through crypto wallets reflects a general alarming trend. Anonymous coins have become a common tool in remote recruitment: the organizer and the executor never meet in real life. The search for the unknown handlers continues as part of a separate investigation into aiding terrorism.
Expert opinion: This case is not isolated but part of a systemic problem. Cryptocurrencies, especially those with enhanced anonymity, are increasingly being used to bypass financial controls in the recruitment of minors. Regulators and law enforcement agencies urgently need to strengthen monitoring of suspicious transactions and develop mechanisms to de-anonymize wallets involved in criminal schemes. Without this, we risk seeing more such sentences in the future.