SSU has detained Russian racketeer who, together with accomplices, used hammers to extort money from mobilized soldiers and cancer patients. VIDEO&PHOTOS
The Security Service neutralized a criminal organization that terrorized and tried to keep residents of the western regions of Ukraine in fear.
This was reported by the SSU, Censor.NET reports.
Who was detained?
As a result of a special operation in Chernivtsi, 5 bandits were detained, including two leaders of this criminal group and a Russian citizen who was illegally staying in Ukraine.
What scheme did the criminals devise?
According to the investigation, the perpetrators extorted money from victims under false pretenses — including mobilized and wounded soldiers, cancer patients, and their families.
The SSU documented how the criminals demanded $40,000 from a National Guard serviceman and his friend who has cancer.
It was established that the racketeers first provoked a fabricated conflict with the victims, then attacked them in the middle of the street — striking them on the head with hammers. As a result, the cancer patient was hospitalized in intensive care.
This brutal violence was used to pressure the victims into handing over the full amount of the extortion. When the victims refused, the criminals threatened to return, abduct them, and torture them. They also warned they would target their families — threatening physical violence against their wives and young children.
The Security Service detained the gang leaders and their accomplices red-handed as they arrived to collect the money from the victims.
How the criminal organization operated
According to the investigation, the suspects were part of a criminal organization led by a local repeat offender with prior convictions for drug-related crimes and illegal weapons possession.
Two subordinate criminal groups operated under his control, one of which was led by a Russian national known by the nickname "Russkiy" (Russian -ed.).
The organization was actively expanding its criminal operations and sphere of influence, aiming to cover the entire Bukovyna region, as well as parts of Prykarpattia and Khmelnytskyi regions.
What suspicions are being prepared for gang members
The SSU investigators are currently preparing to serve three detained gang leaders and two of its active members a notice of suspicion under Part 4 of Art. 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (extortion, committed by an organized group under martial law, combined with causing grievous bodily harm).
The measures to bring to justice all the involved persons and additionally qualify their actions for creating a criminal organization and participation in it are ongoing.
The offenders face 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
