LONDON, May 26, 2026 — The UK government added 18 individuals and entities to its Russia sanctions list on Tuesday, including crypto firms Huobi Global S.A., EXMO Exchange Limited, Bitpapa IC FZC LLC and several entities linked to digital-asset payment infrastructure.
The designations were made under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and include asset freezes, trust services sanctions, director disqualification sanctions, internet services sanctions and, for several entities, restrictions on correspondent banking relationships and payment processing, according to the UK sanctions notice.
The action targets individuals and entities the UK said it had reasonable grounds to suspect were involved in supporting or obtaining a benefit from the Government of Russia, including by providing financial services or making funds, economic resources, goods or technology available to persons operating in sectors of strategic significance to Russia.
Huobi Global S.A., listed in the notice with name variations including “HTX (formerly Huobi)” and “HTX Exchange,” was designated after the UK said it had reasonable grounds to suspect the company had provided financial services, funds, economic resources, goods or technology to A7 Limited Liability Company and Garantex Europe OU, both described in the notice as operating in sectors of strategic significance to Russia.
Crypto exchanges and payment networks named
EXMO Exchange Limited was also added to the UK sanctions list. The notice said the Secretary of State had reasonable grounds to suspect that EXMO had been involved in supporting or obtaining a benefit from the Government of Russia by providing financial services, or making funds, economic resources or technology available to an involved person operating in a sector of strategic significance to Russia.
The UK also listed several crypto-related or payment-linked entities, including Nueva Cryptologia, also identified with name variations including ABCEX and ABCEX Exchange; Arvix Limited Liability Company, also identified with name variations including Exnode and Exnode Pay; Rapira Group LLC; Alistera Limited; Bitpapa IC FZC LLC; Sooty Limited; Aifory Limited Liability Company; and Open Joint-Stock Company “Virtual Assets Issuer,” which the notice also identified with name variations including USDKG and USDKG.com.
For EXMO, the notice listed three crypto wallet addresses. For Rapira Group LLC, the notice listed a digital address beginning with “bc1q72.” The inclusion of wallet and digital-address information highlights how digital-asset identifiers are increasingly appearing in sanctions enforcement materials.
Restrictions on access and payments
Several of the designated entities are now subject to UK internet services sanctions. Under the notice, social media services, internet access services and application stores must take reasonable steps to prevent users in the UK from accessing content, sites or applications provided by designated individuals or entities.
The notice also imposed correspondent banking and payment-processing restrictions on several entities. Where those restrictions apply, UK credit or financial institutions are prohibited from establishing or continuing correspondent banking relationships with designated persons, and from processing payments to, from or through them.
The measures also apply to credit or financial institutions owned or controlled by the designated person, as set out in the relevant regulations.
Individuals and A7-linked entities targeted
The UK also designated several individuals, including Liran Cohen, Igor Olegovich Gorin, Irina Rafaelyevna Akopyan and Sergey Mendeleev.
The notice said Cohen was suspected of making economic resources, goods or technology available to A7 LLC and other persons within the A7 network, which the UK described as Government of Russia-affiliated entities operating in the Russian financial services sector.
Gorin and Akopyan were listed over alleged managerial links to A7 LLC, while Mendeleev was designated in connection with EXVED and Independent Decentralized Finance Smartbank and Ecosystem, which the notice described as operating in Russia’s financial services sector.
Other designated entities included Open Joint Stock Company “Eurasian Savings Bank,” Open Joint-Stock Company “State Brokerage Company,” Limited Liability Company “Diamond Estate” and Trace Road Limited Liability Company.
Compliance implications
The sanctions notice states that anyone who knows or has reasonable cause to suspect they are holding or controlling funds or economic resources of a designated person must freeze them, must not deal with them or make them available to the designated person, and must report findings to the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
Failure to comply with UK financial sanctions legislation, or seeking to circumvent it, may be a criminal offence, according to the notice.
The latest designations add to growing Western scrutiny of crypto exchanges, payment intermediaries and digital-asset infrastructure linked to Russia-related sanctions risks.
