- Gang accused of stealing $42,000 in crypto, as well as cash and luxury watches.
- Group acted on orders of "mastermind" who remains unidentified, prosecutors say.
- Attacks on crypto holders are becoming more frequent in Russia.
Seven Russians suspected of attacking a Russian blogger and forcing him into sending them crypto worth $42,000 could be jailed for up to a decade and a half each.
All seven suspects, five men and two women, will face charges of committing “an organized robbery on an especially large scale,” prosecutors said in an official statement.
Prosecutors said the gang also stole cash and other private property worth $33,000.
The gang was “acting on instructions from an unidentified mastermind,” prosecutors said.
Attacks on crypto holders have risen in recent months, both in Russia and elsewhere in the world.
In November, a court in Ryazan, western Russia, ordered two men to serve more than eight years each in maximum-security penal colonies after finding them guilty of stealing $171,000 worth of coins from a crypto blogger at knifepoint.
Threats of violence
Prosecutors say the robbery took place on July 9, 2025, when the two women arrived at the blogger’s apartment, posing as delivery couriers.
When the blogger opened the door, the rest of the group reportedly pushed him aside, entered the property, and physically assaulted him.
They then tied his hands and threatened him with further violence unless he revealed the password to his mobile phone and various apps, including the keys to his cryptocurrency wallet.
Eventually, the blogger handed over the details, and the group drained the wallet, sending the coins to an unidentified wallet address. Prosecutors did not say which type of cryptocurrency the blogger held.
The gang then allegedly stole two luxury watches worth a total of $26,000, as well as cash worth $4,000 and other undisclosed items.
The five men are all residents of Zhigulevsk, a town about 300 kilometres south of Kazan, prosecutors said.
The two women, meanwhile, hail from Kazan.
Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tdalper@dlnews.com.
