“For people affected by conflict or crisis, cryptocurrencies can be a lifeline because funds can reach people faster than traditional money,” Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, said in an interview with the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) radio station in July 2022.
The President of ODF explained how her Foundation used Bitcoin to deliver aid to Ukrainians who found themselves in a war zone after a massive attack by Russian troops in February 2022. Bitcoin, she revealed, became the only possible solution after traditional financial systems were paralysed in Ukraine. “Ukrainians all over the world were trying to find a way to purchase and deliver protective equipment to their fathers and brothers. We needed a way to save these people’s lives and make money transfers as fast as we could. Bitcoin made it possible to collect the funds needed in a matter of hours, and while others were waiting for the cash transferred through traditional methods to be credited, we were able to purchase and donate protective equipment (bulletproof vests, helmets, medical equipment) in cooperation with the Ukrainian embassy just two days after the Russian invasion,” Kozlovska explained.
When asked about concerns that Bitcoin could be used to circumvent sanctions, the President of the Foundation, which has been lobbying to maintain anti-Russian sanctions for more than ten years, replied, “In my opinion, the cryptocurrency market is too small for Russian oligarchs or hypocrite dictators. We need to look carefully at double standards in banks, because today authoritarian regimes can abuse mutual international legal cooperation, and, with access to bank data, they can punish human rights defenders, opposition leaders or lawyers residing abroad,” adding that she personally does not see Bitcoin as a tool to circumvent sanctions.
The Open Dialogue Foundation has already published several reports on Russia’s circumvention of sanctions with the support of Central Asian states, including:
- Diamonds Are Not Forever: Analysing Ineffectiveness of Diamond Embargo in Hurting Russia’s Economy (25.11.2023)
- Russia’s Decade-Long War Against Ukraine: How to Accelerate Ukrainian Victory (15.08.2023)
- Russia’s Accomplices in the War Against Ukraine: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Army’s Reliable Rear (9.05.2023)
- Everything for the Front. Everything for Victory. How Tokayev Helps Putin while Fooling Ukraine and the West (8.03.2023)
- Kremlin’s Secret Ally. How Tokayev is Helping Putin Circumvent Sanctions (22.12.2022)
We encourage you to listen to the entire programme: “How crypto is aiding the Ukrainian resistance“
Read also:
- ”Bitcoin is borderless” Conference — how to combat financial exclusion worldwide? (October 15, 2023)
- How does Bitcoin support Ukraine? Lyudmyla Kozlovska explains at CoinDesk Consensus 2023 conference (April 29, 2023)
- Crypto’s role in aid to Ukraine: Kozlovska at the Blockchain Summit (March 22, 2023)
- The Currency of Freedom: Lyudmyla Kozlovska in conversation with Laurence Aderemi (November 10, 2022)
- “Bitcoin as a tool for financial freedom” — Lyudmyla Kozlovska at Plan ₿ Forum 2022 (October 22, 2022)
