CrimeAtlas

Soviet & Russian Serial Killers

The Soviet Union and modern Russia produced some of the most prolific serial killers on record — cases often hidden for years by a state reluctant to admit such crimes could happen. This list gathers the Soviet and Russian serial killers documented on CrimeAtlas.

Cases are ranked by their known victim counts, drawn from the public record. Each entry links to the full case file with the documented facts, locations, and sources.

  1. 1 The Angarsk Maniac (Werewolf) Murders Angarsk, Russia · 2000 Former Angarsk police officer Mikhail Popkov murdered dozens of women over nearly two decades, becoming one of the most prolific serial killers in modern Russian history.
  2. 2 Andrei Chikatilo - The Butcher of Rostov Rostov-on-Don, Russia · 1978 Andrei Chikatilo was one of the most brutal serial killers in history, murdering 52 women and children.
  3. 3 The Terminator Killings: Anatoly Onoprienko Zhytomyr, Ukraine · 2000 Ukrainian serial killer Anatoly Onoprienko, the 'Terminator,' murdered entire families across Ukraine; he was convicted in 1999 and his death sentence was commuted as Ukraine aboli…
  4. 4 The Bitsa Park Maniac: Alexander Pichushkin Moscow, Russia · 2006 Alexander Pichushkin, the "Bitsa Park Maniac," murdered dozens of victims in Moscow's Bitsa Park, mostly luring elderly men with vodka before killing them.
  5. 5 The Vitebsk Strangler Murders Vitebsk, Belarus · 1985 Gennady Mikhasevich strangled dozens of women in Belarus's Vitebsk region over 14 years; wrongful convictions of others delayed his capture until 1985.
  6. 6 The Pology Maniac Murders (Serhiy Tkach) Pology, Ukraine · 2005 Serhiy Tkach, a former police forensics expert known as the 'Pology Maniac,' was arrested in 2005 after decades of raping and murdering young girls across Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk…
  7. 7 The Novokuznetsk Cannibal Killings Novokuznetsk, Russia · 1996 Alexander Spesivtsev killed numerous young women and children in his Novokuznetsk apartment, with his mother assisting in luring victims.
  8. 8 The Balashikha Ripper Murders Balashikha, Russia · 1992 Sergei Ryakhovsky, the 'Balashikha Ripper,' killed at least 19 people in the Moscow region between 1988 and 1993, targeting elderly women and homeless men.
  9. 9 Irina Gaidamachuk: "Satan in a Skirt" Pensioner Murders Krasnoufimsk, Russia · 2005 A Russian housewife murdered elderly pensioners across the Sverdlovsk region by posing as a social worker, killing them and stealing their money to fund her drinking.
  10. 10 The Irkutsk Doctor Killings Irkutsk, Russia · 1986 Vasili Kulik, a trusted physician in Irkutsk, Siberia, murdered and assaulted numerous victims, primarily elderly women and children, before his arrest in 1986.
  11. 11 The Belinsky Diary Killer Belinsky, Russia · 2011 Alexander Bychkov, a man from Belinsky in Penza Oblast, murdered nine people, mostly homeless men, and recorded the killings in a diary that incriminated him.
  12. 12 The Underground Bunker Slavery Killings Vyatskiye Polyany, Russia · 1995 Alexander Komin imprisoned and enslaved captives in a hidden underground bunker in Vyatskiye Polyany, forcing them to make knitwear and killing several who resisted or fell ill.
  13. 13 Yuri Tsyuman, the "Black Pantyhose" Strangler Taganrog, Russia · 1990 Yuri Tsyuman, the 'Black Pantyhose' strangler, raped and killed four young women in Taganrog, Russia, between 1990 and 1991, leaving hosiery on their bodies as a signature.

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