Guns, rope, tape found in car of man accused in Fort Lauderdale/Sarasota slayings
Investigators found guns, ammunition, knives, an axe, rope and tape inside the car of a man accused of killing six people in Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota on Tuesday, according to the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office.
Russell Kot, 51, is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, Larisa Blyudaya, 46, and her 18-year-old son Ben Azizov inside Blyudaya’s Victoria Park town house in Fort Lauderdale before driving more than three hours to Sarasota and fatally shooting three members of her family and another woman.
Fort Lauderdale officers found the bodies of Blyudaya and Azizov on Tuesday around 1:30 p.m. after receiving requests for a welfare check from Blyudaya’s daughter, according to information released by the department.
Police have not released how they were killed or when the killings happened.
Kot traveled to the Amberlea neighborhood in Sarasota, where he shot three members of Blyudaya’s family and their housekeeper, the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office said. He then fatally shot himself,
The sheriff’s office said Friday that detectives believe Kot first shot Olga Greinert, the 49-year-old housekeeper at the Fallcrest Circle home, and Yaroslav Blyudoy, Larisa’s 39-year-old brother. Kot then sent a suicidal text message to members of his family, the sheriff’s office said.
He remained inside the house until Florita Stolyar, Larisa’s 66-year-old mother, and 61-year-old Anatoly Ioffe, Stolyar’s husband and stepfather to Larisa and Yaroslav, to come home. He then shot and killed them before shooting himself, the sheriff’s office said.
Detectives found more than 20 spent bullet casings inside the house, and each victim was shot multiple times, said sheriff’s office spokesman Matthew Binkley.
A neighbor was the first to notify authorities about the shootings when she found Ioffe lying in his front yard, bleeding heavily and not breathing, according to a 911 call that she made around 12:30 p.m. The woman and her adult son held pressure on his wounds and performed CPR on Ioffe until paramedics and deputies arrived, according to the call that the sheriff’s office released.
Deputies then found the rest of the bodies inside the home.
Investigators say Kot and Blyudaya moved to Fort Lauderdale from the Chicago area in the fall of 2025. Kot lived with Blyudaya until the end of last year, when the couple broke up, the sheriff’s office said.
However, detectives reviewing Kot’s cellphone records have not found “any apparent triggering event prior to the shootings involving Larisa or any of her family,” Binkley said Friday.
Kot, an applications consultant with Allstate Insurance, did not have any criminal history. He was an avid sailor and cyclist, according to his Facebook page.
Detectives have found evidence indicating Kot had either previously stayed at the Sarasota house or took care of the family’s pets there in recent months, Binkley said. Detectives said they also believe Kot had met Greinert before.
Kot had two guns with him when he went into the house. Detectives found two more handguns, more ammunition, five knives, an axe, rope and tape inside his car, Binkley said.
Sarasota investigators are asking anyone with information about the case to call 941-861-4900.
This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 3:25 PM.
