UK Russia Sanctions Hit A7 Network and Crypto Exchanges

On 26 May, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office announced 18 new Russia sanctions aimed at the people, firms and payment channels the UK says are helping Moscow dodge earlier restrictions. The measures came into force immediately and centre on crypto exchanges, A7-linked actors and other financial middlemen. (gov.uk) **Reading tip:** when a government says it is sanctioning Russia, it is often not only talking about ministers, generals or state bodies. Often it is talking about the quieter plumbing of money: exchanges, brokers, banks and shell firms that help funds cross borders when ordinary routes are blocked. You can read this package as an attempt to close those back doors, not just add more names to a list. (gov.uk)

That matters because sanctions are less like a switch and more like pressure applied over time. UK guidance says financial sanctions can freeze assets, stop funds or economic resources being made available to designated persons, and restrict financial services. Separate government guidance for businesses says Russia has kept trying to get round trade and financial controls through third countries, indirect routes and organised evasion networks. (gov.uk) So if you want the simple version, here it is: this package is meant to make it harder for Russia not just to earn money, but to move it, disguise it and spend it. That is why the focus falls on exchanges, brokers and payment processors rather than only on ministries or state banks. (gov.uk)

The government’s main focus is the A7 network. In the FCDO press release, A7 is described as a Kremlin-backed system used to get round Western sanctions, help military procurement and process money from oil sales. The same press release says the network claimed to have shifted more than $90 billion last year. (gov.uk) That figure should make you pause. Even when sanctions exist on paper, wars can still be financed if money finds fresh routes. This is why governments keep moving from broad headline sanctions to more detailed action against the companies and people in the middle. (gov.uk)

The sanctions notice gives us a clearer map of those middlemen. Among the newly listed entities are Eurasian Savings Bank in Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyz State Brokerage Company and Virtual Assets Issuer, plus Diamond Estate and Trace Road. The same notice also names Igor Gorin and Irina Akopyan as managers or equivalents of A7 LLC. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk) The package also reaches beyond Russia and Kyrgyzstan. The official notice lists Georgian-registered firms including Arvix, Rapira Group and AiFory, and the wider 18-name list also includes exchanges or service firms such as EXMO, Bitpapa, Alistera and Sooty. That tells you the UK is not treating this as one rogue company, but as a web of linked services spread across several jurisdictions. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)

Crypto is the other big lesson here. The press release says the UK suspects a major global exchange channelled more than $1.5 billion back towards the Kremlin. The sanctions notice published the same day lists Huobi Global S.A., now branded HTX, as a newly designated entity; taken together, that strongly suggests this is the exchange ministers were referring to. That is an inference from the official documents, not a separate line stated outright in the press release. (gov.uk) Another named entity is Nueva Cryptologia, also known as ABCEX, which the notice says provided services to Garantex and Grinex. Put simply, the government is not treating crypto as a side story. It is treating exchanges as part of the financial machinery that can matter in a war. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)

**What this means in practice:** a designation is not just a public naming exercise. UK Russia sanctions guidance says designated persons are subject to asset freezes and a ban on making funds or economic resources available to them, directly or indirectly. If a UK person or firm discovers it is dealing with a designated person, it must stop, freeze relevant assets and inform the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation as soon as possible. (gov.uk) For some of these entities, the sanctions notice goes further. It says UK credit and financial institutions are barred from correspondent banking relationships with them and from processing payments to, from or via them. Some are also hit by internet services sanctions, meaning UK social media services, internet access providers and app stores must take reasonable steps to block access to their content, sites or apps in the UK. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)

If you are wondering why sanctions packages keep changing, that is the real story. The government’s March 2026 enforcement strategy says sanctions only work if compliance and enforcement keep pace with deliberate attempts to evade them. The business guidance on Russian sanctions evasion makes the same point in plainer terms: Russia uses indirect shipping routes, false end-use claims and third-country channels to keep critical goods and money moving. (gov.uk) So this latest package is an update in an ongoing contest. One side closes a route; the other side tries another. That does not mean sanctions have failed. It means sanctions need checking, updating and proper enforcement if they are going to bite. (gov.uk)

The FCDO says the UK has now sanctioned more than 3,300 individuals, businesses and ships under the Russia regime, and its 26 May press release argues that international sanctions have already cost Russia more than $450 billion. Those figures come from the government and are part of the case ministers are making for continued pressure alongside support for Ukraine. (gov.uk) **What it means:** when you read a sanctions story, it helps to look past the dramatic phrasing and ask a steadier question: which payment route is being shut this time? In this case, the answer is the shadow finance system of exchanges, brokers, banks and front companies that can keep a war economy breathing when the front door is locked. That is the part of the story we should keep watching. (gov.uk)