Russian Couple Take To Social Media To Document Aftermath Of Robbery In Bali

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A Russian couple who claim to be the victims of a violent robbery in Bali have taken to social media to raise awareness of their case. While the incident is being handled by police in Bali, Yuri Boitsov and his girlfriend have shared their story online.

They have CCTV footage that shows four men, three now known to be Russian and one Indonesian man wearing a police uniform, arriving at their villa in North Kuta on the 25th of February.

Boistov has told police that he was held under force by the men and was forced to transfer USD 284,000 in cryptocurrency. It is believed that essential documents and other valuable items were stolen too. Boistov us, a prominent social media figure in Russia, has shared the events as they unfolded on his Instagram account @boitsov_life.

The details of his versions of the events of the robbery have been shared in Russian, Indonesian, and English. The case has also been featured on a Russian TV news network. He has tagged the Indonesian President Joko WIdodo in all the posts, as well as accounts like Bali Livin’ and Bali Expats.

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A post shared by Юрий Бойцов | Инвестиции (@boitsov_life)

In a saved Instagram story, accompanied by footage of the four suspects arriving at the Bali villa, Boitsov wrote, “My life and the life of my girlfriend are in danger in Bali. We still don’t have any documents. I will continue to speak publicly about the situation. I ask you to keep in touch with me and follow what is happening publicly – this is my protection.”

The next slide reads, “On February 25 in Bali, my girlfriend and I were completely attacked and robbed of more than $284,000 with the participation of 4 men (three Russian speakers, one Indonesian in police uniform).”

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The information shared in the Instagram story slides is shared in simple sentences, seemingly for ease of translation across languages and social media platforms. Boitsov continues, this time in a video at the police station, “on February 25, after the crime, I immediately went to the nearest police station and reported the incident. At the police station, they told me to go to the villa, and then the police came to my villa.”

The following video shows the inside of the North Kuta villa, where police can be seen reviewing the scene. The caption reads ‘I showed the police all the evidence of the crime.” The subsequent slide is a photo of official police documents in a police office, captioned “then I went back to the police to do the paperwork.”

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According to Boitsov, shortly after police launched the investigation, the men recorded on the CCTV were identified and tracked down. In an update, Boitsov wrote, “on the morning of February 26, I took a video from the camera. Thanks to this, a few hours later, a criminal was detained at the airport. He flew on a Bali-Dubai flight…I came to the airport to identify the criminal.”

In the next video, one of the men from the CCTV footage can be seen in the police office, sitting on a sofa. He appears to lose his temper, kick the table in front of him, and the camera goes blurry as if the person taking the footage was scrambling away.

The caption from Boitsov stated, “This video was recorded by me inside the police station. I received death threats from the perpetrator. The perpetrator was not arrested. After long negotiations, they were all released.”

In the final slides of the Instagram story saved to his highlights reel, Boitsov wrote, “Then the policeman appeared at the police station, [the one] who came to my villa in the event of a robbery. He was not being…detained.”

His concluding pleas on social media read increasingly desperate. He wrote in Russian and in Indonesia, “An appeal to the respected Indonesian people. My life and my woman’s life are now under maximum threat in Bali. My friends and acquaintances are now flying away from Bali because they see my situation and understand that it is very dangerous here. I ask for help and support [from] you. Help stop this mess.”

He ended the story with a final plea. Boistov said, “finally, if we do not stop this, the crime will continue. All tourists in Bali, be careful and careful. Very dangerous here now. You can be attacked and robbed like me”.

The Head of Public Relations of Bali Regional Police, Kombes Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto, has issued a short statement regarding the robbery and Boitsov’s documentation of the events that followed on social media.

Setianto has said, “We are still learning, and this is still being investigated by the North Kuta Police. Yes, if he feels it needs to be conveyed to his media, we cannot prohibit it, but yes, we feel aggrieved because this is still investigative. Because it’s also one-sided but in general I observe that Bali is still safe, I’ll learn the case first because this is in Russian, we’ll inform you later.”