Russian gang tortured programmer for 10.4 BTC after spotting his supercars
- Five men in Ivanovo, Russia, were charged with kidnapping and torturing a young programmer.
- They collected roughly 10.4 Bitcoin plus cash and devices, with total losses above 84 million rubles.
- The gang found him through social media photos of his luxury cars, and police caught them after a drone-related internet blackout pushed them onto tappable phone lines.
Russian prosecutors from the Ivanovo area arraigned five men on charges related to a kidnapping to extract 10.4 BTC from a programmer. The defendants, mostly ex-convicts, face up to 15 years on these new charges.
Per the Kommersant local media outlet, the victim, who is in his early 20s, landed on the suspects’ radar after spotting photos of supercars, including a Ferrari, a BMW and a Mercedes, on social media. The victim also traveled outside the country with fair regularity.
Was the victim a crypto influencer?
Investigators said the programmer targeted in the 10.4 BTC crypto kidnapping in the Ivanovo area made his money as a product supplier for large companies.
The five men identified by News.ru as Antonov, Bronnikov, Chervyakov, Kozlov and Zaynutdinov reportedly maintained surveillance on the victim, mapping his movements before they struck. Their ages ranged from 28 to 52.
The accused quintuplet made their move on September 6, seizing and cuffing the programmer by the hands as he approached a shop. They drove him to a garage cooperative called Energetik, using a Peugeot they had bought from car thieves.
It was at the Energetik garage that the pistol-wielding, masked attackers beat the victim for about five hours. During that time, they made threats to burn him with an iron, a soldering iron and escalated as far as saying they would cut off his ears.
The perpetrators extracted 1 million rubles in cash from the programmer. They also collected an iPhone and a MacBook, and took over his accounts.
They transferred another 10.4 BTC (approximately $800,000) to an address that investigators have not identified as of this report.
The victim was dumped, still bound, in a forest at the end of an ordeal that Russian authorities estimate led to above 84 million rubles in total damage.
How the gang was arrested
Investigators cracked the case after the attackers switched to ordinary phone calls during a Ukrainian drone attack that took down internet service and forced the crew to abandon the messaging apps they were using.
Police intercepted their conversations and tracked all five men down.
Mobile internet outages have become common during drone attacks in Russia. Authorities say the shutdowns prevent raid drones from navigating using cellular networks.
Police arrested the suspects all across Russia, from Yaroslavl to Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg and Tver. Some of the loot has already gone to apartment and car expenses.
Investigators say all five had served prison terms for serious offenses and met behind bars. A court ordered three of them to be held until late December 2026. The charges fall under Russia’s kidnapping and aggravated robbery statutes.
Wrench attacks continue to spread
The case fits a documented rise in “wrench attacks,” where criminals use violence to force crypto holders to hand over keys. Chainalysis counted 46 such incidents worldwide in the first half of 2026, with more than $30 million taken and payment extracted in 12 of them. CertiK logged 52 verified attacks over the same window and about $124.1 million in exposure, with 39 of those incidents in Europe and 33 in France alone.
Cryptopolitan has tracked the pattern spreading to the UK and earlier reported a £10,000 reward in a Solihull home invasion.
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FAQs
Who was the victim and why was he targeted?
He was a programmer in his early 20s who supplied products to large companies, and the gang picked him after seeing social media photos of his Ferrari, BMW and Mercedes and his frequent travel abroad.
How were the suspects caught?
A Ukrainian drone attack knocked out the city's internet, so the gang switched from messaging apps to ordinary phone calls, which police intercepted to identify and arrest all five.
How much was taken in the attack?
The attackers moved about 10.4 Bitcoin out of the victim's wallets and also took 1 million rubles in cash, an iPhone and a MacBook, for total losses the authorities put above 84 million rubles.
Disclaimer. The information provided is not trading advice. Cryptopolitan.com holds no liability for any investments made based on the information provided on this page. We strongly recommend independent research and/or consultation with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.
Hannah Collymore
Hannah is a writer and editor with nearly a decade of blog writing and event reporting experience in the crypto space. At Cryptopolitan, Hannah contributes to the news page, reporting and analyzing the latest developments in DeFi, RWA, crypto regulation, AI and frontier tech industries. She graduated from Arcadia university with a degree in Business Administration.
