FT: Despite sanctions, Russia spent over $6.9 billion through international banks

Despite sanctions, Russia was able to transfer over $6.9 billion through international banks thanks to its A7 payment system.

The Financial Times reports this with reference to files and documents.

Fintech company A7 has positioned itself as an alternative for international transfers after Russia was cut off from the SWIFT payment system due to sanctions. The company was created in Russia and Kyrgyzstan and is founded by Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor and Russian state-owned Promsvyazbank, which is linked to the defense industry.

In particular, it was found that $1.1 billion was received from A7-related entities into accounts at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong alone from late 2024 to August 2025. During the same period, DBS Bank in Hong Kong received $273 million, and Citigroup received $74 million. Deutsche Bank in Europe received approximately $18 million during this time.

For these payments, A7 used shell and fictitious companies that used SWIFT. These included over 100 firms from the UAE, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, the UK, and other countries.

The “companies” transferred cash to banks connected to the SWIFT system. These funds could then be used to pay the accounts of Russian companies abroad. For half of these transactions, the final destination was Chinese accounts.

Some of the payments made through this system involved military goods, including those for Russian intelligence services. In order to make these payments, the “companies” were given instructions on how to describe the goods so as not to arouse suspicion.

In particular, employees were instructed to replace the customs codes of sanctioned goods with the closest possible alternatives that were not subject to sanctions.

It was established that in February 2025, in one of the internal chats, A7 employees discussed a request to the bank for payment for 500 night vision scopes worth almost $510 thousand. The company employees indicated in the product description that they were purchasing tempered glass.

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