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WSJ: U.S. trains Ukrainian law enforcement in cryptocurrency investigations

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Criminal-investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service is training Ukrainian investigators to pursue crypto investigations related to sanctioning Russian oligarchs, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The in-person training to educate the Ukrainian National Police, the Economic Security Bureau, the Security Service and the Prosecutor General’s Office began in Frankfurt on May 11 and will last through next week.

The advanced training follows previous technological and educational support. According to the article, IRS “provided Ukraine with licenses to use Chainalysis Reactor, a crypto investigation tool” and conducted online trainings to educate Ukrainian law enforcement on how to use the tool in April.

Ukrainian sources cited in the article said they will prioritize “identifying and stopping fundraising campaigns aimed at amassing cryptocurrency” to support Russia’s war efforts.

The training comes amid other steps by the U.S. to target Russian assets. On May 10, Reuters reported on the approval of the first transfer of forfeited Russian assets to Ukraine by the U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Reuters: US authorizes first transfer of seized Russian oligarch’s funds to Ukraine
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has approved the transfer of forfeited Russian assets to Ukraine for the first time, Reuters reported. The funds belong to sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev who has been accused of funding Russian proxies in Russian-occupied Crimea in 2014.
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The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

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