According to a report by Daniel Kuhn for The Block, a press release by Ukraine’s National Police announced on July 29 that Kyiv police had apprehended four men, aged 24 to 29, who meticulously planned and executed the abduction and murder of a 29-year-old foreigner. The criminals targeted the victim for his cryptocurrency, valued at approximately 7 million hryvnias. After kidnapping him, they apparently coerced the victim into transferring his bitcoins before suffocating him and burying his body in a forest.
Around midnight, residents in the Solomianskyi district heard screams and saw several unknown individuals forcibly placing a man into a vehicle. This prompted an immediate police operation in Kyiv and the surrounding region, involving all police units and operatives from the Main and Solomyan police departments.
The intensive efforts by the police, including support from the KORD special unit, led to the identification and arrest of the suspects. Investigations revealed that the criminals had prepared extensively for the crime. They tracked the victim’s residence and attacked him as he returned home. After abducting him, they took him to an abandoned building in Kyiv Oblast, where they forced him to transfer his cryptocurrency to their wallet. Following this, they strangled him, altered the vehicle’s license plates and appearance, and buried the body in a forest. The stolen cryptocurrency was then converted into cash.
During the investigation, police recovered money, the vehicle, and other critical evidence. The suspects are being charged under multiple articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code:
- Clause 6, Part 2, Art. 115: Deliberate murder for selfish motives
- Part 4 of Art. 187: Robbery attack
- Part 3 of Art. 146: Illegal deprivation of liberty committed by an organized group of persons
- Part 1 of Art. 396: Concealment of a crime
All suspects have been detained without bail and face the possibility of life imprisonment.
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