Arrests in Ukraine

Dead Ukrainian man in car: two suspects arrested

Following the discovery of the body of a 21-year-old Ukrainian man in a burnt-out car, two people have been arrested on urgent suspicion.(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

An explosive twist in the case surrounding the body of the young Ukrainian in Vienna-Donaustadt: the police were able to catch two suspected Ukrainians. The 21-year-old was brutally beaten to death in the underground parking garage of a luxury hotel and then burned to death in agony in the back seat of the car. He is no stranger to his home country - his father is a politician in Kharkiv. Investigators assume a financial motive.

The mystery surrounding the 21-year-old dead Ukrainian is largely solved. In cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities and Europol, the police arrested two suspects - a 19-year-old and a 45-year-old Ukrainian - in their home country by means of an international arrest warrant. At 9 a.m., the Vienna police held a press conference to provide information on the latest developments in the investigation.

Familiar reports young Ukrainian missing
The background to the crime remains a mystery, as the young man was no stranger: His father is the deputy mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city. On Thursday night, the family reported the 21-year-old, who was studying in Vienna, missing - a short time later the terrible certainty was confirmed: he had died in a gruesome manner.

In front of media representatives, the investigators also commented for the first time on a possible motive of the suspects: A political motive has been ruled out, as the head of the Vienna State Criminal Police Office, Colonel Gerhard Winkler, explained. Instead, it was presumably about a lot of money: after the crime, a large sum was debited from the victim's crypto wallet. In addition, one of those arrested was carrying a large sum of US dollars.

The suspects bought the petrol canister for their alleged crime at this petrol station.(Bild: Eva Manhart)

Fire residue at the crime scene in Vienna-Donaustadt(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

The young man's body was only discovered after the fire had been extinguished.(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

First crime scene in underground parking garage of luxury hotel
The Vienna police also released more details about the gruesome last hours of the young Ukrainian man's life. He was initially overpowered by several men in the underground car park of the Sofitel luxury hotel and brutally beaten to death, as videos from a surveillance camera show. The police found massive burns on the 21-year-old's body as well as clear traces of blows to the victim's body. "80 percent of his body was burnt," explained Winkler.

The man was then placed on the back seat of the Mercedes with Ukrainian license plates and set on fire, apparently to cover his tracks. Colonel Winkler cites asphyxiation or heat shock as possible causes of death. There are also findings on how the fire started: Apparently, fire was set with an accelerant, and investigators discovered a melted gas can on the back seat. The remains eventually led the police to video footage from a Viennese petrol station - and thus to the two suspects, who fled to Ukraine shortly after the crime.

According to Colonel Winkler, the two suspected Ukrainians will not be extradited to Austria, but will be prosecuted in their home country. The proceedings will be handed over to the Ukraine by the Austrian judiciary.

The dead man was found last Wednesday at around 0.30 a.m. at an allotment garden on Marlen-Haushofer-Weg in Vienna-Donaustadt after neighbors raised the alarm about the burning Mercedes. It was only after the fire had been extinguished that the fire department discovered the young man's body.