The case of the brutal murder of 21-year-old Danilo Kuzmin, the son of the deputy mayor of Kharkiv, has now taken a clear investigative turn, revealing a well-organized scheme of robbery and murder for financial motives.
Austrian police investigations show that on the evening of November 25, Kuzmin visited the luxury Sofitel hotel in central Vienna. A violent conflict broke out in the hotel's underground parking lot: a witness heard the sounds of a fight, while police found blood stains on the stairs. Security camera footage revealed that the 21-year-old was there in the company of a 19-year-old Ukrainian student, his peer and acquaintance, whom he completely trusted.
According to Austrian and Ukrainian authorities, this young man was the one who lured Kuzmin into a trap. The victim had inadvertently confessed to them that his family owned significant cryptocurrency assets. In collaboration with a 45-year-old Ukrainian, he organized a plan to embezzle these funds. In the underground garage of the hotel, Kuzmin was brutally attacked. He was severely beaten and almost all of his teeth were broken, while the perpetrators tortured him to extract the passwords to his digital wallets. Under extreme violence, the 21-year-old was forced to reveal this data, which allowed the perpetrators to empty two cryptocurrency wallets.
After taking what they wanted, the perpetrators put the now half-dead Kuzmin in the back seat of the family’s Mercedes and drove him to a secluded area in the Donaustadt district. There, according to the investigation, they doused the victim’s body and the interior of the car with gasoline – previously purchased by the 19-year-old, as confirmed by security cameras – and set the vehicle on fire, burning Kuzmin inside. After the crime, the two perpetrators quickly fled Austria. Evidence clearly points to a financial motive: the victim’s cryptocurrency accounts were emptied immediately after the murder. The exact amount has not been officially made public, but is estimated at around $200. Investigators believe the cryptocurrencies were quickly converted into cash, as large amounts of dollar bills were found during the perpetrators’ arrest. Around $90 was seized from the 19-year-old alone.
"We rule out any political motive. All evidence clearly shows that this is a financially motivated crime," said Colonel Gerard Winkler, the chief of Vienna's police, describing the case as one of the most horrific criminal schemes of recent years.
ARRESTS
Within 24 hours of the crime being discovered, Austrian authorities identified the main suspects and activated Europol and Interpol. The two men had crossed the border into Ukraine via Hungary in the early hours of November 26. On November 29, less than four days after the murder, they were arrested in the city of Odessa by Ukrainian police, with the participation of the KORD special unit. The arrest was carried out without resistance in the coastal area “Trasa Zdorovia”. The Ukrainian court ordered their detention for 40 days. Since Ukraine does not extradite its citizens, the Ukrainian authorities have requested the transfer of the file from Austria to try the case in the country. The Austrian prosecutor’s office has agreed to hand over the evidence and cooperate fully.
Both suspects face charges of premeditated murder accompanied by robbery and torture, offences punishable by up to life imprisonment under Ukrainian law. Ukrainian media have identified the 19-year-old suspect as Bogdan Rinzhuk, a student at the same university as the victim and the son of a powerful businessman from Chernivtsi. He is also the adopted son of the current Ukrainian ambassador to Bulgaria, Olesya Ilashchuk. The second suspect, Oleksandr Agoev, 45, is a former senior customs official in Odessa and is suspected of actively participating in the beating, transportation and burning of the victim’s body. Both have chosen to remain silent after their arrest. The case has sparked strong reactions in Ukrainian public opinion, with calls for transparency and full justice, despite the suspects’ strong family ties.
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