A British schoolboy who became the first child sanctioned by the Kremlin says he will wear the punishment as a 'badge of honour'. Alexander Browder, 17, is understood to be the youngest person ever targeted by Moscow's sanctions regime after exposing a Kremlin-backed money laundering network used to help fund the war in Ukraine.
The sixth form student compiled a database of illegal cryptocurrency deals, including Russian transactions used to allegedly bypass Western sanctions. His report, titled 'Confronting the Illicit-Finance Hydra in Crypto Markets', was published by the Henry Jackson Society think tank in March. Alexander claimed that around $350 billion had been laundered by various states including Iran, North Korea and Russia via Ruble-backed digital currency stablecoin.
Russia's Foreign Ministry sanctioned Alexander this week over what it called 'defamatory speculations and false information'. However, the teenager told The Telegraph he is totally unmoved by the reprimand. 'I am not bothered at all. In fact I am going to be wearing it as a badge of honour. It shows me that I touched a nerve,' he said.
Alexander's father, Bill Browder, once the largest foreign investor in Russia who was expelled in 2005 after exposing widespread corruption, said: 'This is the first time in history that Russia has sanctioned a high school student. My son is 17 and studying for his A-levels. Putin's skin is getting so thin they are going after A-level students now.'
In a statement, Russia's Foreign Ministry warned that 'any efforts by the British political elites to escalate Russophobia' would be met with 'resolute response measures'. Alexander is banned from traveling to Russia because of his 'involvement in circulating defamatory speculations and false information about the policy of the Russian authorities'.
