10 hours ago
Ukrainians hit by sanctions intended for Russia
Ukrainians have been hit by Western sanctions intended to block Russians from accessing key services.
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, 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.
