Crypto and Sanctions Evasion: Russia's Growing Shadow Economy

Crypto use is central to Russia's evasion of sanctions aimed at restricting its military procurement. It is past time for action. Over the past four years, sanctions against the financing and resourcing of the Russian military have been a key pillar of the West's response to the Kremlin's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine. But as pressure has mounted on the traditional financial system, a parallel ecosystem has taken shape — one that operates beyond the reach of conventional controls. From shadow fleets moving oil, to increasingly sophisticated procurement networks, Russia has shown a clear ability to adapt. And now, crypto is playing a growing role in enabling the purchase of the goods and components that sustain its war machine. In this latest episode, host Tom Keatinge, Director of the Centre for Finance & Security at RUSI, is joined by Gonzalo Saiz from the CFS team, and Kaitlin Martin, a Senior Intelligence Analyst on the National Security Intelligence team at Chainalysis, to explore how crypto is being used in Russia's procurement networks, and what policymakers need to do to keep up.