The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office stated on Thursday that the UK has sanctioned three cryptocurrency exchanges, two payment platforms, and an individual, suspecting them of helping Russia evade financial sanctions.

The sanctioned entities include Xeltox Enterprises. According to the UK's sanctions notice, this is a company registered in Vancouver. The UK claims that it was included on the sanctions list due to its holding of Cryptomus and activities that are "related to" and "continuously carried out through" Heleket.

In a post published on October 8, 2026, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office stated: "Putin's war relies on funds, oil revenues, and the networks that support these revenues. Today, the UK is imposing 38 new sanctions to disrupt these networks. The message is simple: if you help Russia to fund or equip this war, you will face consequences."

Also subject to sanctions is Processing KG. According to the notification, this company operates a payment service called VexPay, and its parent company is the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Finance. Its director, Ulan Bukabaev, has also been sanctioned.

The government stated that two of these targets handled and facilitated transactions related to the A7 network, but did not specify which two ones they were.

The UK describes A7 as an “illegal financial network” supported by the Kremlin, used to circumvent sanctions against Russia’s financial sector. The government claims that this network transferred over $90 billion last year, which is roughly equivalent to half of Russia’s annual military expenditure.

These crypto-related sanctions are part of a package of 38 targeted sanctions. This sanctions package also includes Russian oil companies Zarubezhneft and INK Capital. The British government stated that British sanctions now cover over 90% of Russia's oil production capacity.

These measures also add 12 more "shadow fleet" tankers, bringing the total number of sanctioned tankers to over 600, as well as 17 new entities and individuals that provide key materials for the production of Russian missiles and drones.

Encryption and Russian Sanctions

In the past few years, the UK, the US, and the EU have all sanctioned a number of crypto companies as part of their respective sanctions against Russia. In May, the UK sanctioned HTX under Sun Yuchen's ownership, as well as other crypto companies, accusing HTX of providing financial services to A7. Two months later, the EU also named HTX in its own sanctions against Russia.

Thereafter, the United States listed the A7 network as a transnational criminal organization, and the European Union also moved towards prohibiting all encrypted transactions with Russian entities.

A UK operation targeting Russian attempts to evade sanctions also resulted in the arrest of 128 individuals, as well as the seizure of crypto assets and cash.

In May this year, Kyrgyzstan requested that 50 companies cease their operations, after national authorities identified these companies as posing a sanction risk.