On February 26, 2026, police in the Sukawati district on the southeastern part of Indonesia’s Bali island, in Gianyar Regency, received a call from the agitated village head of Ketevel, Putu Gede Kusuma Negara.
He reported a horrific discovery: during a morning walk around the Dalem Ketevel temple at the mouth of the Wos Teben River on the black-sand beach of Banjar Keden (marked on tourist maps simply as Ketevel for convenience), locals found a severed human head near the water. Even before law enforcement arrived, their worst fears were confirmed: waves began washing other parts of the dismembered body onto the coastal breakwaters.
This was reported by Detective-Info.
During a subsequent search of the area, investigators found a right leg, parts of the chest and internal organs, a thigh, and a left arm bearing recognizable tattoos — images of the Virgin Mary and a clock face with Roman numerals. Tattoos of this kind had also been chosen, among other designs, by 28-year-old Ihor Komarov, a native of Dnipro, Ukraine, who had gone missing under mysterious circumstances on the southwestern coast of Bali on February 15.
According to preliminary findings by local police, the current stage of decomposition suggests that the victim had been dead for at least three days by the time the remains were discovered. Another key detail released to the public: the tattoo on the arm from the dismembered body matches the “drawings” of the missing Dnipro resident by 80%. DNA comparison of the body fragments found on the black sands of Ketevel beach with samples from close relatives of the missing Ihor is expected to confirm or refute their relationship with 99.9% probability. However, this will by no means remove from the agenda other, including delicate, questions that have arisen around the nature, puppeteers, participants, and inflators of the “Indonesian horror.”
“Never ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee” (c)
On February 20, 2026, a bombshell exploded in Ukraine’s information space — for many involved in one way or another in processes “on the other side of the law,” the morning began with discussions of Indonesian crime news. Around noon, the first publications on the matter appeared in domestic media, stating that days earlier, criminals of Chechen nationality on Bali had attempted to kidnap the sons of two criminal authorities from Dnipro — Ihor Komarov (initially referred to by journalists as Komarovskyi) and Yermak Petrovskyi.
Citing sources, it was reported that during the attack, the son of the respected president of the MBF “Solidarity” Oleksandr Petrovskyi, nicknamed “Narik,” managed to escape. Instead, the kidnappers captured Yermak’s friend, whom they were torturing and demanding $10 million for his return.
That same day, videos of Ihor Komarov began appearing on social media. In the initially published recordings, the Dnipro resident confessed to involvement in organizing fraudulent call-center operations and pleaded for help in raising money to save himself (first from his parents, and later from his girlfriend, popular blogger Yeva Mishalova). The unusual story captured the attention of a wide audience, went viral on social media, and then predictably brought in the “heavy artillery” on air.
In the “leaked” fragments of the recordings, Komarov read out a list of individuals allegedly involved in running “offices” in Dnipro (and beyond). Later, the surnames and positions of these “big shots” from Ukraine’s law enforcement system, allegedly involved in “covering” the “call” theme (which, according to knowledgeable interlocutors, may at least partially correspond to reality), were “savored” by the media.
In the public sphere, the “telethon” of the captive on Bali (with primary sources being recordings posted on Ukrainian and Russian Telegram channels) kept viewers in suspense for five consecutive days. New “revelations” stopped being published publicly only on February 24.
“Better call Saul” (c)
It was on February 24, 2026, that Indonesian police first released the official version of the high-profile story. According to it, Ihor Komarov had in fact gone missing on the evening of February 15 in the Jimbaran area of Badung Regency. It was noted that the Dnipro resident had traveled to southern Bali in the company of “Narik’s” son and Russian citizen Roman Salin to practice motorcycle riding on uneven terrain. Allegedly, at some point the Russian “broke away” from the other bikers for a certain distance, and when he returned for his friends, he found only the victim’s belongings: a mobile phone, a bag, and a wallet.
According to the version later promoted online by some commentators, the kidnappers had initially managed to capture both Komarov and Petrovskyi Jr. However, the latter allegedly immediately contacted his father, who transferred the required $10 million to the kidnappers for his son’s return. After that, Yermak was released.
In the interpretation that can be dubbed the conditional position of “Narik’s” side, events unfolded somewhat differently. In this account, during the “Dnipro bikers’” trip to South Kuta province, Ukrainians were allegedly rammed by a car driven by those who later kidnapped Komarov. As for Yermak, he managed to break free from the attackers (the author of these lines has heard that either a knife or athletic skills helped the son of the president of MBF “Solidarity”).
Those recounting this version also did not rule out a possible connection between the “road incident” and other events that accompanied the vacation of Petrovskyi Jr. and other representatives of Dnipro’s “golden youth” on Bali. In this context, mention was made of a certain conflict involving “Narik’s” son with freedom-loving sons of the Caucasus in one of the entertainment venues, which may not have been spontaneous. Against this backdrop, information spread that after Komarov’s disappearance, a group of individuals with combat experience arrived in Indonesia from Israel to organize an emergency evacuation of the “Dnipro tourist” Yermak.
“Hostages of the island” (c)
Be that as it may, after the “Bali incident” gained wide publicity, the author’s interlocutors from the city reputed to be one of the main hubs of call-center activity in Ukraine limited themselves to the comment: “At present, Yermak is safe.”
Indirect confirmation of this is considered to be information released with reference to the lawyer of one of the affected participants in the Jimbaran events, information from domestic diplomats. According to it, this figure had already left Indonesian territory. And the photograph of Petrovskyi Jr., thrown into the media from the very beginning of the media part of the thriller. According to AI assessment, the corresponding image could likely have been taken at Changi Airport — the leading air gateway not only of Singapore but of all of Southeast Asia.
If all these details correspond to reality, it can be assumed that the central target of the attackers on Bali was most likely the son of the influential “Narik.” Commenting on the situation, one of the interlocutors allowed himself a jab, saying that if this is the case, then for almost the first time in Ukraine’s history, a modest utility worker (in one interpretation, Petrovskyi Jr. is legally employed at one of the subsidiaries of Dnipro’s heating networks) had become a figure in an international criminal thriller and the object of exfiltration.
At the same time, none of the representatives of the so-called “professional environment” in conversations with the author of these lines confirmed the authenticity of the widespread opinion that the father of Komarov is also allegedly a “criminal authority.” Attempts to “declare” Ihor a descendant of the Kramatorsk “Komar” — an active supporter of “DPR ideas” (Part 5, Article 260 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), wanted since 2014 — and especially “searches” for the young man’s genealogical roots in the family of the “overseer” for Vinnytsia region, interlocutors link either to the media’s ignorance in their pursuit of “sensationalism” or to a deliberate attempt to “puff up cheeks” to generate additional publicity for the “Bali incident.”
However, what is obvious is not only the long-standing acquaintance but also the established friendly relations between Ihor Komarov and Yermak Petrovskyi. Five years ago, both young men (as well as about a dozen of their acquaintances) were involved in the investigation into the circumstances of a shooting that occurred at the “Tynitsia” entertainment venue in Dnipro in the early hours of February 28, 2021.
Ultimately, official charges in this case were brought against only two young men from the orbit of “Narik’s” son — Anton Orel and Ihor Komarov. Their actions of malicious hooliganism (Part 4, Article 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) were reclassified as infliction of minor bodily injuries (Part 1, Article 125 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) on the opponent. And already in the summer of 2021, “in connection with reconciliation with the victim” on the basis of Article 46 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, they were released from criminal liability.
According to public registry data, until the moment of his disappearance on Bali, Ihor had no official business. And, as is believed, he could have earned a living by being actively immersed, together with his brother Tymur, “Narik’s” son, and a number of other worthy individuals, in the adrenaline-filled world of Dnipro’s “office workers.”
According to media reports, another scandalous story of “showdowns” with shooting in Dnipro, to which the younger of the Komarov brothers and Yermak Petrovskyi were allegedly linked, served as a kind of echo of the “call-center” theme. This refers to the events of November 11, 2025, when one of the bodyguards of Vasyl Obodenko — advisor to the acting head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration — “caught” several bullets on Prospekt Myru.
“Suspicious persons” (c)
Journalists plan to dwell on the details of the story surrounding the “Dnipro shooting” of autumn 2025 in a separate investigation soon. As for the “Indonesian incident” with the kidnapping of Ihor Komarov, according to official information from Bali police, suspicions of involvement in this crime have now been raised against six foreigners (four of whom have already 100% managed to flee the island), as well as their seventh accomplice. The latter rented a car used by the kidnappers using forged documents.
The names of the wanted alleged perpetrators had not been made public at the time of preparing this material. According to Asian media, these are individuals with the initials CH, DH, VN, BK, RM, SM, and AS. At the same time, mentions of specific individuals (including those of Chechen origin) who may allegedly be connected to the “Bali horror” have already surfaced in the public space.
The “instigator” of this version on February 21 was Russian developer Sergey Domogatsky, who had previously fallen victim to a kidnapping on the island. According to his claims, a powerful transnational group operates in Southeast Asia under the “roof” of local security forces, which includes Chechens. Allegedly, this organized criminal group is responsible for several audacious episodes of kidnapping wealthy foreigners who arrived on vacation in Bali.
On February 27, information authored by Domogatsky was essentially duplicated in certain Telegram channels under the sauce of publishing a supposedly “secret report” regarding the ideologists and participants of the Balinese organized criminal group of kidnappers, extrapolating their alleged connection to the troubles of “Narik’s” son and Ihor Komarov. The very next day, most of the “criminals’” profiles were deleted (on the afternoon of March 2, the full text of the “classified note” was posted on one of the sites), and only those related to Ukraine remained in the public domain.
This refers to Oleksandr Zhukov, a native of Horlivka sentenced in December 2019 to 5 years of imprisonment (with a probationary period of 36 months) by the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv for extortion (Part 3, Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), his former wife Nadiya, and Russian citizen Khasan Askhabov
The latter, together with his twin brother Hussein, appeared on the Pechersk Hills and pages of domestic sports media in the autumn of 2017. At that time, the Askhabovs were actively promoted by the “creator of the MMA boom in Ukraine” — president of the World Warriors Fighting Championship (WWFC) Volodymyr Teslya, known in certain circles by the nickname “The Frenchman”.
(Twin brothers Khasan and Khusein Askhabov in the company of Volodymyr Teslya)
Ill tongues claimed that the visits of fighters of Chechen origin were aimed not only at the “sports component” but also concerned more delicate issues. Be that as it may, it is believed that the cooperation between the Askhabovs and “The Frenchman” did not last long, as the parties completely fell out. Over time, there were more mentions of the exploits of the MMA fighters in the sections of criminal chronicles (including those related to allegations of involvement in kidnappings in Southeast Asia) than in the realm of their achievements in the ring.
As for the Horlivka native Zhukov, shortly before his “humane sentencing” in Ukraine in 2019, Oleksandr found himself at the center of “hotel rentier” showdowns that took place in Europe between the family of now-arrested former judge Artur Yemelyanov and his former business partners. It is known that one of the figures in this saga was also Volodymyr Teslya. And Zhukov himself, in turn, has a considerable background of subsequent close relations with the Askhabov brothers.
At the same time, it is rumored that about a year ago the Chechen brothers began to “terrorize” the native of Donetsk region and presented him with a substantial bill. Whether the former comrades reached reconciliation after this and how much it could have cost Zhukov is not known for certain.
At the same time, the incognito regime in the “Bali story” could no longer be maintained by a long-time acquaintance of both “The Frenchman” and the Askhabovs from the almost decade-old “MMA case” in Kyiv. This refers to Yuriy Yerynyak, nicknamed “The Moldovan”, wanted since 2021, whom domestic security forces accuse of involvement in the “bearded story” of the kidnapping, torture, and extortion of funds from the former top manager of “Naftogazvydobuvannya,” and now MP of the 9th convocation Oleh Seminsky. According to the available version, in the story of Asian troubles that directly affected the Dnipro “Narik,” “The Moldovan” could have been one of the relays of that very “secret report,” which contained information about the allegedly probable kidnappers of Komarov.
Be that as it may, since the identities of those suspected of the kidnapping have been established by Indonesian security forces for several days now, there is a microscopic probability that they are still unknown to the “father of Tomos.” The further reaction of “Narik” to the actions of the executors and puppeteers of the intrigue, or its demonstrative absence, will provide additional food for thought and a partial understanding of what exactly happened on Bali and who may stand behind it in Ukraine. And answers to the questions of whether it was an echo of the struggle for the “office” market between two clear leaders of this “market segment,” an excess of executors during a standard “shakedown,” the effect of a third force’s intervention after the fact of the “office worker’s” kidnapping, or a carefully planned operation under a false flag.
