Tortured with soldering iron and demanded half million dollars in ransom: gang detained in Kryvyi Rih. PHOTOS
In Kryvyi Rih, law enforcement officers detained three members of a criminal group who kidnapped an entrepreneur, tortured him with a soldering iron and demanded $500,000.
This was reported by the police and the prosecutor 's office of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Censor.NET reports.
According to the investigation, in May 2025, three residents of Kryvyi Rih organised the kidnapping of their friend, a local businessman. They invited him to a meeting in a cafe. While one of the suspects distracted the guards, the other took the victim to the VIP room.
At this point, the controlled men in balaclavas burst into the room, struck the man several times in the face, tied his hands with plastic ties, threatened him with weapons, and took him out through the back door.
The victim was taken to a house in a village in Kryvyi Rih district, where he was beaten for three days, tortured with a soldering iron, poured with boiling water and demanded USD 500,000 for his release.
The victim's father-in-law allegedly owed the kidnappers this sum.
Subsequently, the suspects contacted the victim's wife and demanded that she withdraw the police report on her husband's disappearance and hand over the sum.
Fearing exposure, the perpetrators took the man to a field where they left him, threatening him with death if he went to law enforcement.
The operation was conducted by the criminal police operatives of the Main Department of the National Police in the Dnipropetrovsk region in cooperation with the technical and analytical services of the police.
On 4 October, authorised searches were conducted at the suspects' residences and vehicles, during which a number of material evidence of their criminal activity was seized.
During the searches, the police also found a workshop with equipment for the production of counterfeit alcohol products, which one of the detainees was involved in organising.
The three suspects have been detained and served a notice of suspicion under Part 4 Article 189 (extortion) and Part 2 Article 146 (illegal imprisonment) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
During the authorised searches, the law enforcement seized mobile phones, starter packs, cash, clothes, a soldering iron, traumatic pistols, cars and forged law enforcement IDs from the detainees.
The investigation is ongoing, and other persons involved in the crime are being identified.
