Ukrainians hit by sanctions intended for Russia
British companies are among a host of firms that have imposed blanket shutdowns across the Ukrainian regions Vladimir Putin claims to have annexed but has not yet conquered.
Revolut and Wise, which provide essential online banking services, have been accused of carrying out the Kremlin's bidding by going dark across the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
But Nikolay Kucheruk, whose company provides internet services to residents of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, says the companies have no reason to block his customers.
The war-ravaged Donbas town may be only 20 miles from the frontline but is not under Russian control.
Putin claimed the surrounding oblasts after sham referenda in 2022 – but three years on, fighting remains fierce and swathes of the regions remain resolutely Ukrainian, despite a renewed Russian offensive in the east with Moscow's forces looking to fully capture the land Putin already claims as Russia's.
Revolut and Wise, two of the most prominent UK-based fintechs, offer their products in Ukraine, with services available throughout the majority of the country.
But residents in the east face payment rejections and near total shutdowns, while their compatriots can fully access the services.
Similar policies have been imposed by other global platforms, including Airbnb, Booking.com, Spotify, Duolingo, TikTok, eBay and Facebook Ads.
Ukrainians say these companies are effectively redrawing the map by legitimising Putin's annexation and recognising the territories as Russian.
Contacted by The Telegraph, they acknowledged the problem but attributed their decision to Western sanctions against Russia.
To access anything online, every user needs an internet protocol (IP) address, assigned by their internet provider which allows online platforms to deliver their services. In eastern Ukraine, these companies are refusing to do so.
'From a technical point of view, it should be simple,' said Mr Kucheruk, the founder and chief executive of Elite Line, Kramatorsk's leading internet provider.
'You just compare a user's address with the ranges assigned to Ukrainian providers. That usually gives you a pretty clear idea if the connection is coming from inside the country'.
The companies pointed to economic sanctions for shutting down in the east – but Western sanctions have never targeted Ukraine.
'Revolut must comply with the sanctions laws and regulations of the UN, EU, UK and the US,' the company said in a statement.
Pushed on why it does not differentiate between Ukrainian-controlled and Russian-occupied areas within Ukraine, Revolut said: 'Revolut has a legal and regulatory responsibility to comply with all applicable sanctions regimes from the UN, EU, UK, US, and all other jurisdictions in which Revolut operates.
'Revolut supports transfers and card payments for Ukrainian residents, except for sanctioned areas. Revolut does not operate in Russia.'
Wise declined to offer a comment on record.
With more than 60 million users worldwide, the two British neo-banks are a financial lifeline. They help people send and receive money from abroad, protect their savings, and store funds in stronger currencies like the pound, euro, or dollar.
Restrictions deal a double blow to a country of refugees, where the hryvna [Ukraine's currency] has lost 32 per cent of its value in just three years.
Ironically, Revolut, which boasts over 700,000 Ukrainian clients across the UK and EU, previously released a paid promotional debit card in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, calling on users to 'show solidarity.'
Not all companies have applied sanctions intended for Russians in Ukrainian held regions. Supermarkets, cafes and businesses near the front still process payments daily through Visa and Mastercard. Both companies stopped issuing new cards in Russia after 2022.
When asked whether the firms could target specifically Russian-controlled territory in the broader regions, Mr Kucheruk said: 'That wouldn't be a problem. They could create a whitelist with ISPs' directions.
'If a place gets destroyed or is occupied, we can report it and have it moved to a blacklist. But these companies don't even want to try.'
Born in Kramatorsk, Mr Kucheruk founded Elite Line two decades ago, and today, with Moscow's troops slowly advancing towards the city, still provides services to 15,000 homes and businesses.
His team of 30 people repairs the fibre-optic cables every time Russia shells the city, keeping locals, soldiers, volunteers, and businesses online even during attacks or blackouts.
'Big ISPs – like Vodafone or Kyivstar – can take weeks to react,' he explained. 'We're a small market for them. But we are local people, we live here. We have a responsibility to our customers.'
During the 10-year Donbas war, Volodymyr, a fellow Kramatorsk resident, used to host dozens of travellers, families, NGO workers and foreign journalists. But since the Russian invasion, he has been banned by Airbnb.
In March 2022, the housing platform told him they were no longer operating in the Donetsk administrative capital, still 30 miles inside Ukrainian-held territory.
Airbnb could have played a crucial role in the logistics and military hub, helping meet urgent housing needs while allowing locals to earn a vital income during the war.
'They're stubborn. They don't understand anything,' Volodymyr, now safe in western Ukraine after fleeing the city, said.
Airbnb justified the restrictions by claiming it takes 'obligations seriously' to 'ensure compliance with US, EU, and other applicable government sanctions.'
'A lot of enterprises and institutions say they want to help, but in three years, they've done nothing,' said Mr Kucheruk. 'It's not that they can't. It's that they don't want to.'
Google has been the only tech giant to reverse course when they blocked access to basic tools like Gmail in March 2022.
'We contacted Google Ukraine, and they quickly understood it was a mistake. Which proves one thing: unlocking the situation isn't difficult,' said Mr Kucheruk.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
7 minutes ago
- The Independent
Soldiers under bombardment in eastern Ukraine say peace still feels far away
In a Ukrainian dugout, where the constant thunder of Russian weapons sends dirt raining from the ceiling and black plastic lining the walls slips, soldiers express profound scepticism about peace talks. Amid the regular blasts from glide bombs and artillery shells, forcing them underground except to fire their M777 howitzer, the prospect of an end to the conflict feels remote. On the Eastern Front, there is no indication the war will conclude anytime soon. Diplomatic efforts, soldiers believe, are too far removed from the brutal reality of the battlefield to yield results. Their doubt stems from what they perceive as months of unfulfilled US promises to swiftly end the war. Recent suggestions by Donald Trump of "swapping of territories", coupled with media reports implying Ukrainian troops might abandon the Donetsk region – a territory they have defended inch by inch for years – have only deepened the confusion and rejection among the fighting forces. Few believe the current talks can end the war. More likely, they say, is a brief pause in hostilities before Russia resumes the assault with greater force. 'At minimum, the result would be to stop active fighting — that would be the first sign of some kind of settlement,' said soldier Dmytro Loviniukov of the 148th Brigade. 'Right now, that's not happening. And while these talks are taking place, they (the Russians) are only strengthening their positions on the front line.' On one artillery position, talk often turns to home. Many Ukrainian soldiers joined the army in the first days of the full-scale invasion, leaving behind civilian jobs. Some thought they would serve only briefly. Others didn't think about the future at all — because at that moment, it didn't exist. In the years since, many have been killed. Those who survived are in their fourth year of a grueling war, far removed from the civilian lives they once knew. With mobilization faltering and the war dragging on far longer than expected, there is no one to replace them as the Ukrainian army struggles with recruiting new people. The army cannot also demobilize those who serve without risking the collapse of the front. That is why soldiers wait for even the possibility of a pause in hostilities. When direct talks between Russia and Ukraine were held in Istanbul in May, the soldiers from 148th brigade read the news with cautious hope, said a soldier with the call sign Bronson, who once worked as a tattoo artist. Months later, hope has been replaced with dark humor. On the eve of a deadline that U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly gave Russia's Vladimir Putin — one that has since vanished from the agenda amid talk of a meeting in Alaska — the Russian fire roared every minute for hours. Soldiers joked that the shelling was because the deadline was 'running out.' 'We are on our land. We have no way back,' said the commander of the artillery group, Dmytro Loviniukov. 'We stand here because there is no choice. No one else will come here to defend us.' Dozens of kilometers from Zaporizhzhia region, north to the Donetsk area, heavy fighting grinds on toward Pokrovsk — now the epicenter of fighting. Once home to about 60,000 people, the city has been under sustained Russian assault for months. The Russians have formed a pocket around Pokrovsk, though Ukrainian troops still hold the city and street fighting has yet to begin. Reports of Russian saboteurs entering the city started to appear almost daily, but the military says those groups have been neutralized. Ukrainian soldiers of the Spartan brigade push through drills with full intensity, honing their skills for the battlefield in the Pokrovsk area. Everything at the training range, only 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the front, is designed to mirror real combat conditions — even the terrain. A thin strip of forest breaks up the vast fields of blooming sunflowers stretching into the distance until the next tree line appears. One of the soldiers training there is a 35-year-old with the call sign Komrad, who joined the military only recently. He says he has no illusions that the war will end soon. 'My motivation is that there is simply no way back,' he said. 'If you are in the military, you have to fight. If we're here, we need to cover our brothers in arms.' For Serhii Filimonov, commander of the 'Da Vinci Wolves' battalion of the 59th brigade, the war's end is nowhere in sight, and current news doesn't influence the ongoing struggle to find enough resources to equip the unit that is fighting around Pokrovsk. 'We are preparing for a long war. We have no illusions that Russia will stop," he said, speaking at his field command post. "There may be a ceasefire, but there will be no peace.' Filimonov dismisses recent talk of exchanging territory or signing agreements as temporary fixes at best. 'Russia will not abandon its goal of capturing all of Ukraine,' he said. 'They will attack again. The big question is what security guarantees we get — and how we hit pause." A soldier with the call sign Mirche from the 68th brigade said that whenever there is a new round of talks, the hostilities intensify around Pokrovsk — Russia's key priority during this summer's campaign. Whenever peace talks begin, "things on the front get terrifying,' he said.
The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
European leaders push to secure seat for Ukraine at Trump-Putin talks
Update: Date: 2025-08-11T07:57:56.000Z Title: Morning opening: Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine Content: A group of European leaders insisted over the weekend that 'the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine' amid growing concerns about the US president Donald Trump's plans to strike a deal with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, when the pair meets in Alaska on Friday. A hastily arranged statement signed by the leaders of Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the UK, and the European Union reiterated that 'a diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine's and Europe's vital security interests.' Speaking to the German broadcaster ARD, German chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hoped and assumed that Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, would also be involved in Friday's summit in Alaska and that he made representations to Trump on this issue. 'We cannot accept in any case that territorial questions are discussed or even decided between Russia and America over the heads of Europeans and Ukrainians,' he said. 'I assume that the American government sees it the same way.' EU foreign ministers are meeting virtually for an emergency meeting today to discuss the next steps. On Sunday, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the support, saying on X: 'The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today for the sake of peace in Ukraine, which is defending the vital security interests of our European nations. But there are still no guarantees as to what will happen next and what concessions Trump might be willing to agree to, leaving Kyiv and most European capitals deeply uncomfortable ahead of the summit on Friday, and they will want to use every minute to influence the US position. Let's see what the day brings. Elsewhere, I will be also keeping an eye on another extreme heatwave in parts of Europe, with Spain and France among countries expecting to see temperatures close to or above 40 degrees Celsius once again. I will bring you all the key updates here. It's Monday, 11 August 2025, it's Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live. Good morning.
Times
38 minutes ago
- Times
JD Vance tells Europe to ‘step up and take a bigger role' in Ukraine
Europe needs to 'step up and take a bigger role' in funding Ukraine in its war against Russia, JD Vance, the US vice-president, said on Sunday. Speaking to Fox News, he claimed Americans were 'sick' of spending their tax dollars abroad and Washington was 'done funding' Kyiv. 'If you care so much about this conflict, you should be willing to play a more direct and a more substantial way in funding this war yourself,' he said. He spoke as European leaders again scrambled to build a united defence behind Ukraine, after President Trump suggested he may cut a deal with President Putin that could mean Ukraine has to concede territory. • Cotswolds hamlet on lockdown as JD Vance's holiday gets under way It is clear, however, that even if it remains unwavering in its diplomatic stance, Europe lacks the strength to back Kyiv in negotiating favourable terms in a future peace agreement or enforcing a ceasefire. The so-called 'coalition of the willing' — a multinational force led by the UK and France intended to support Ukraine and potentially monitor a ceasefire — looks highly unlikely to meet Sir Keir Starmer's original hopes of 64,000 troops on the ground. The Kremlin has also said it will not accept western troops in Ukraine, warning that their presence could trigger a new world war. Even if Putin were to agree, European defence ministers have said there is 'no chance' they could reach the 10,000 troops floated by the UK. Even 25,000 as a joint effort would 'be a push', The Times reported in April. 'Russia has 800,000 [troops],' Dovile Sakaliene, Lithuania's defence minister, told European counterparts. 'If we can't even raise 64,000 that doesn't look weak — it is weak.' It falls far short of the 200,000 troops that President Zelensky estimated in January were needed to credibly enforce peace across Ukraine's extensive front line and to prevent a new Russian attack after any ceasefire deal. Experts put the figure at closer to 600,000. The group consists largely of European and Commonwealth countries. So far, the UK and France are the only countries to have committed a specific number of troops. Finland is reportedly concerned that any deployment would 'dilute' its own border defences, while Poland, Spain and Italy have made clear they will not commit any soldiers. Estonia has said it may only be willing to send a company-sized combat unit of ground troops. Proposals have so far been hampered by shortages of manpower, political reluctance and logistical hurdles around the rules of engagement should Russia attack. Financially, Europe overtook the US as the biggest supplier of aid to Ukraine in June, with about €72 billion in military aid compared with the US's €65 billion, according to the Kiel Institute's Ukraine Support Tracker. The US has supplied the most sophisticated and lethal equipment, however, including advanced air-defence systems and precision munitions. Much of Europe's aid finances the purchase of US-made weapons, underscoring its dependence on the country. Zelensky said in January that about 40 per cent of Ukraine's weapons came from the US, about 33 per cent were produced domestically and less than 30 per cent came from Europe. Russia relies largely on its own resources, bolstered by partnerships with China and Iran. North Korea has also supplied between nine and 12 million artillery shells and rockets since 2023. Pyongyang allocates nearly 16 per cent of its government budget to defence, a proportion unmatched by any European state. Last year, EU members spent €326 billion on defence, about 1.9 per cent of GDP — a 30 per cent rise since 2021 — but the US spent nearly $1 trillion, or 3.4 per cent of GDP. To close the gap, the EU launched an €800 billion readiness plan aiming to modernise and integrate military capabilities. But progress is slow, hindered by fragmented industries, political divisions and lack of a shared strategy. The EU has imposed 14 rounds of economic sanctions on Russia since 2022, freezing more than €200 billion of Russian central bank assets and cutting energy imports. But Russia has adapted by deepening trade ties with China, India and other non-western partners, while Trump's promise to impose crippling secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil have largely failed to materialise. Europe could offer incentives, such as unfreezing Russian assets, as bargaining chips in any settlement. However, that relies on Putin seeing negotiation as preferable to continued war, something that is far from certain. • What's up for grabs at the summit — and can Trump outsmart Putin? Following an emergency summit on Saturday hosted by David Lammy, the foreign secretary, with Vance and senior European and Ukrainian officials, Kaja Kallas, the EU's policy chief, said she planned to convene an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday. 'The US has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously,' she said, and any deal 'must have Ukraine and the EU included'. Kallas framed the talks as a matter for not just Ukraine's security, but the whole of Europe's. European diplomatic efforts are significant but, without military backing, risk being symbolic. The ability to uphold Ukraine's territorial integrity depends on sustained US commitment of weapons, troops and political will.
