I feel bad reading these, having spent the first 10 years of my life in Russia before it all went from shit in disguise to outright, oh-the-audacity type of shit (~1990)
But this is the rule, not the exception, and it saddens me to say that Russia's the last place I'd want to start a company.
This happens every day in mexico. Paying the ransom will unfortunately only validate the kidnapping "business model". There's no easy solution.