A young Ukrainian student, Danilo Kuzmin, has been found burned alive in his father's Mercedes in Vienna, Austria, in a brutal case linked to cryptocurrency extortion. Austrian investigators believe the 21-year-old was targeted and tortured into handing over a large sum of digital currency he controlled.
Gruesome Discovery and Identification
Danilo Kuzmin's body was discovered last Wednesday in the back seat of a charred Mercedes beneath a bridge in the Austrian capital. The son of Kharkiv's deputy mayor, Sergei Kuzmin, he had been living in Vienna after fleeing the war in Ukraine. His injuries were so severe, with burns covering approximately eighty percent of his body, that authorities could not immediately identify him. A match was made only after his family and a friend filed missing persons reports, noting his sudden silence.
Torture Before Murder
Post-mortem findings revealed a horrifying sequence of events. Kuzmin had suffered blunt force trauma, including head injuries and broken teeth, before he was set on fire. Investigators concluded he was still alive when the fire began and ultimately died from suffocation or heat shock. The discovery of a melted petrol canister in the back seat confirmed the blaze was deliberate, as the Mercedes vehicle runs on diesel.
Police reconstruction suggests Kuzmin was lured to an underground garage at a luxury hotel, where he was beaten and forced into the car before it was driven to the final killing site. Detectives reported a "large" outgoing transfer from Kuzmin's cryptocurrency wallet around the time of the attack, though the exact amount remains undisclosed.
Suspects Arrested in Ukraine
CCTV footage played a crucial role, reportedly showing a 19-year-old suspect purchasing a petrol canister at a station in the city. This suspect, a fellow student, and a 45-year-old man, both Ukrainian nationals, were quickly identified. Authorities state the two fled Austria and entered Ukraine the morning after the murder. They were arrested later the same day by Ukrainian police.
Austria has agreed to allow Ukraine to prosecute the suspects domestically, while Viennese authorities continue to support the investigation. There has been no indication yet as to whether either suspect has admitted involvement in Kuzmin's killing.
