They demanded a million dollars: an entrepreneur was held captive at home in Mykolaiv Oblast

In the Mykolaiv region, law enforcement officers detained members of a group who, investigators say, demanded $1 million from a business owner over an alleged debt and tried to seize his business and property. The victim was held against his will in his own home. The Security Service of Ukraine reported the case.

The suspects had previously farmed and traded grain together with the man. After running into financial difficulties, they claimed that the business owner owed them money and began demanding repayment.

According to the Prosecutor General, the group was led by a 46-year-old resident of Vinnytsia. Investigators say his accomplices were aged 28–33:

• a foreign national;
• a resident of Odesa;
• a resident of the Mykolaiv region.

According to the case materials, three members of the group had ties to criminal circles in Mykolaiv.

In early October 2026, the business owner was invited to an office in Odesa. Investigators found that the ringleader beat him there, threatened him with a knife, fired a pistol toward his legs, and struck him on the head with the gun’s handle. The other group members prevented the victim from escaping and threatened to physically harm him and his family.

Over the next two weeks, the suspects monitored the business owner’s movements, took turns staying at his house, escorted him to and from work, and forced him to transfer his property. The SSU clarified that the man was held against his will in his own home for more than a week, deprived of his freedom of movement.

The victim was first taken to Mykolaiv, then to Kyiv. In the capital, under pressure, he signed a power of attorney authorizing the group to dispose of his apartment, which they were trying to take over. They then began demanding that he also transfer his mother’s house.

According to the SSU, in addition to the apartment, the group tried to obtain:

• the victim’s farm, which they wanted to transfer to people under the group’s control;
• 12 trucks belonging to the business owner and his acquaintance;
• a private house in the Odesa region.

The man was also to be forced to commit fraud involving the export of grain crops. The intervention of law enforcement prevented the illegal transfer of the real estate.

All four suspects were charged under Part 2 of Article 146 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — unlawful deprivation of liberty or kidnapping — and Part 4 of Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — extortion. The suspects are being held in custody without the right to bail. They face up to 12 years in prison, with confiscation of property, for the alleged crimes.

The operation was conducted jointly by:

• officers of the SSU in the Mykolaiv region;
• representatives of the National Police’s Strategic Investigations Department in the Mykolaiv region;
• police investigators from the Odesa region.

Procedural supervision of the case was provided by the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

We previously reported:

• Threats over a “debt”: $25,000 extorted from auto mechanic in Odesa
• Businessman kidnapped in Mykolaiv and held for $360,000: number of suspects rises to four
• In the Odesa region, extortionists put a collar on their victim and forced him to run after a car
• Mayor in the Odesa region seized a recreation center and threatened to douse its owner with acid
• Threatened to kill over a nonexistent $5,000 debt: extortionist detained