UK Imposes Sanctions on Kyrgyz Banks and a $9.3B Crypto Network Linked to Russia
The United Kingdom has announced sanctions on a group of Kyrgyz financial institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges and individuals that it says were being used by Russia to evade Western restrictions. The measures target what the UK describes as a ruble-backed stablecoin operation and related infrastructure alleged to have processed roughly $9.3 billion in transactions over a four-month period.
Among the entities named in the sanctions are Capital Bank of Central Asia and its director, Kantemir Chalbayev, which the UK says was used to finance military-related purchases. Two Kyrgyz crypto exchanges, Grinex and Meer, were also blacklisted, along with firms and people connected to the infrastructure supporting the A7A5 stablecoin.
The UK said A7A5 was engineered to emulate the Russian ruble on-chain and characterized the token as a deliberate effort to undermine sanctions. Authorities allege the token processed about $9.3 billion worth of transactions within a four-month window, a figure the UK used to justify the new measures.
UK Sanctions Minister Stephen Doughty criticized attempts to route transactions through opaque crypto networks, saying Moscow could not hide efforts to soften the impact of sanctions by laundering funds via such systems. The sanctions list also named Luxembourg-based Altair Holding, CJSC Tengricoin, Old Vector, A7A5 director Leonid Shumakov and several individuals linked to the network.
The move follows related U.S. actions: last week the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control redesignated Garantex and imposed sanctions that included Grinex, several executives and a set of Russia- and Kyrgyz Republic–based firms. Garantex previously faced a $27 million USDT freeze by Tether in March, and some operators had reportedly shifted user balances to successor platforms.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov publicly rejected the UK’s claims, warning against politicizing the country’s economy and denying that Kyrgyz banks were helping Russia evade sanctions. To limit risk, he said the government would restrict ruble operations to the state-owned Keremet Bank, which Washington has previously sanctioned for facilitating Russian trade payments. Japarov emphasized his intent to protect citizens’ interests and the country’s trade and economic development.
