US Sanctions Russia-Linked Payment Network A7, Targeting $17 Billion in Transactions

The US Treasury has sanctioned the A7 Network, a Russia-linked payment network used by the Iranian regime to evade sanctions. The network's core consists of A7 LLC, A71 LLC, and A7 Agent LLC, which are jointly owned by Ilan Mironovich Shor and Russia's state-owned Promsvyazbank (PSB). Treasury describes Shor as a sanctioned and convicted fraudster.

A7 relies on a large collection of sub-agents, with hundreds of sub-agents processing over $17 billion in dollar-denominated transactions between January 2025 and June 2026. The network claimed a much larger operation, reporting over 2,000 daily transactions and over 7.5 trillion rubles in volume as of January 2026.

The blocked, ruble-backed token A7A5 is issued by Old Vector LLC and built on Tron and Ethereum. A7A5 is used as an internal accounting and settlement asset, backed by ruble deposits held at PSB. It is then converted into more widely accepted digital assets, including USDT, which can be exchanged for fiat.