Revolut blocked accounts of Russians and Belarusians in the European Union

At the end of October 2025, Revolut started blocking accounts of Russian and Belarusian citizens residing in EU countries, reported Forbes. The measure affected all clients regardless of their status. The company explained that it acts in line with the 19th EU sanctions package.

In the bank’s notice, it is stated that the new rules prohibit financial institutions from providing services to Russian and Belarusian citizens unless they hold one of the following documents:

a valid temporary or permanent residence permit in an EU member state, an EEA country, or Switzerland;

confirmation of citizenship of an EU member state, an EEA country, or Switzerland.

Users say they received the request to confirm their residence permits at night, followed within a minute by a message about account suspension and contract termination effective December 31, 2025. Until that date, they cannot deposit or transfer funds, use their cards, or withdraw cash from ATMs. Almost all Revolut clients from Russia and Belarus lost access to their accounts — including holders of temporary or permanent residence permits and humanitarian visas — since they were not given time to clarify their status. Foreigners waiting for residence permit extensions found themselves in a particularly difficult situation.



In many cases, the bank’s support service did not respond to requests, and users could not upload documents. “Novaya Gazeta Europe” reported that in one case it took five hours to get a reply. A Russian woman with a Blue Card said she was told to wait until November 9 because the company was experiencing technical issues. Her account remains blocked. Several Russian citizens who managed to provide documents had some of the restrictions lifted on November 2. This also affected those who were in the process of obtaining residence permits.

The outlet The Bell wrote about a young man waiting for his Latvian residence permit. He was able to upload an official confirmation letter from Latvian authorities via the app. Revolut restored his ability to use the card and sell cryptocurrency, but cash withdrawals and transfers remain unavailable. To fully restore all functions, he must upload a new residence permit by March 1. However, similar documents from another client living in Latvia were not accepted. Some Revolut users who used their cards irregularly as secondary ones started reconsidering whether to continue using the bank.



A Belarusian customer also said that the Revolut support bot replied “we are very sorry” and did not connect him to a live operator. After several emails, he was informed that verification of a valid residence permit could only be done via the mobile app. Later he received a notification about technical problems, which were resolved on the evening of November 1. “I uploaded photos of both sides of my residence permit,” he said. “It took about an hour to process the photos, then I got a message that everything was verified, and my account access was restored.”

The 19th package of EU sanctions against Russia came into effect on October 23. It bans transactions with several banks in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. It also introduces a complete ban on the import of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) under short-term contracts starting April 25 of next year, and under long-term contracts starting January 1, 2027. One of the clauses explicitly prohibits issuing electronic money to citizens of Russia and Belarus. However, similar measures from other banks in the EU have not yet been reported. The BBC Russian Service calls Revolut’s policy an “interpretation” of EU sanctions.