For Russia’s sanctions-busting A7 payment service, international transfers start with bags of cash at Moscow markets. At its peak, it processed at least 58 metric tons in a single month.
Sanctions against Russian banks and payment systems, along with their disconnection from SWIFT after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, gave rise to shadow intermediaries offering Russians cross-border money transfers. Many have offices in the capital’s Moscow City business district, the investigative outlet Proekt reported in spring 2026.
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