Kharkiv police detained three men who kidnapped a local resident, held him in a basement, and stole cash and cryptocurrency totaling over $97,000, according to Kharkiv Oblast police .
According to investigators, on October 10, 2025, near a currency exchange office in central Kharkiv, three unidentified individuals in military uniforms and balaclavas forced a 32-year-old man into a Mercedes-Benz Vito minibus without license plates and drove him to an unknown destination.
Inside the car, the attackers beat the victim, bound him with zip ties, and threatened him with a gun. They stole 14,600 euros in cash and then, holding him in the basement, forced him to transfer over $83,000 in USDT cryptocurrency.
After several hours of psychological pressure, the criminals dropped off the victim on the side of the road in the village of Bezlyudovka in the Kharkiv region.
Thanks to the police's swift action, the attackers—ages 30, 34, and 39—were quickly identified and detained. Among them was a serving military member.
The defendants were charged under Part 2 of Article 146 (illegal deprivation of liberty or kidnapping) and Part 4 of Article 187 (robbery) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The court ordered pretrial detention for all three.
Investigative actions aimed at identifying other possible participants in the crime are currently ongoing.
The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by investigators from the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kharkiv Oblast under the procedural guidance of the regional prosecutor's office, with operational support from the Criminal Investigation Department of the police and the Security Service of Ukraine.
