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On 6 July, 2020, 8-year-old Vika Teplyakova from Novoaleksandrovsk, Russia, had an argument with her mother and, as a result, decided to leave. At 10AM, Vika, depressed by the previous conflict with her mother, took a warm sweater and decided to go to Dolinsk, a town where she had lived earlier. It is known that Vika often went to that town and would often spend nights there with her friends and family as she received the warmth and care that she so lacked at home. Vika knew that Dolinsk could be reached from the bus station and so began to walk in that direction, trying to catch a passing car for a free ride in the process. A married couple in a minibus happened to stop and offer Vika a free ride, which she quickly accepted. However, she would not make it to Dolinsk that day.

Back at home in Novoaleksandrovsk, Vika’s mother was becoming worried. She had not heard from any of her family or friends regarding Vika, nor had anyone in the neighbourhood seen her. At 11 p.m., Vika’s mother reported her missing to police. All forces were thrown into the search for 8-year-old Vika. Volunteers, rescuers, and special services searched for her all day and night. These searches have been described as one of the largest in the past few years. On 10 July, as a result of investigative actions and operational-search measures in a forest near the village of Ozhidaevo, Kholmsk District, the corpse of a girl with signs of violent death was found. In accordance with the data received, the death of the child occurred on the day of her disappearance on 6 July, 2020.

Analysis of CCTV and traffic cameras uncovered a video of Vika walking down the road. However, there were no signs of the minibus that she had gotten into as most of the other traffic cameras were not working at that time. The police began to search for a minibus. It was not immediately possible to find it, but eventually, a breakthrough in the case resulted in the police locating the vehicle. As well as this, police arrested the suspects, 31-year-old Kristina and 45-year-old Igor Dvornikovs. During interrogation, they claimed that they had picked up another girl and dropped her off safely. However, mistakes were found in their testimony, and because of this, it was possible to obtain a confession from Kristina. According to the woman, on 6 July, she and her husband, Igor, decided to spend time together, bought alcohol and went to the beach. On the road, they saw Vika and stopped to give her a lift. As a result, Igor decided to go to the Kholmsky district. He himself is from Chaplanovo, so he knows all the places there well. Kristina admitted that she thought that they would just ride and take the girl to her destination, but Igor abruptly changed the route after arriving at a remote place. There they began to drink, after which Igor ordered her to leave the car, indicating that he was going to rape the child. Kristina did not argue, knowing her husband's aggressive disposition. He often beat her. Subsequently, Igor raped Vika, strangled her with a bag, and threw her corpse into the forest. 

Kristina Dvornikova is accused of committing a crime under paragraphs "a", "d" of part 2 of article 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (kidnapping). While Igor Dvornikov is charged under points "c", "k" of part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder), points "a", "d" of part 2 of Article 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph "b" of part 4 of article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (rape), paragraph "b" of part 4 of article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violent acts of a sexual nature). On 13 July, hundreds of people gathered to say goodbye to Vika Teplyakova as she was laid to rest.

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Born in 1965 in Děčín, Czechoslovakia, Jaroslava Fabianova experienced a difficult childhood and was repeatedly raped as a minor. As a teenager, her parents divorced, and the family dynamic that once was ceased to exist. She discovered same-sex love as a way to satisfy her desires without involving herself with men and began prostituting at the age of 16.On 20 October, 1981, at the young age of 17, Jaroslava violently murdered her first victim, 78-year-old Vladimir Z, by beating him with a stone hammer. In addition to the hammer blows, she also inflicted around 20 stab wounds to his face with a knife. Jaroslava was apprehended the next day for this act and other property crimes. She was sentenced as a juvenile to 7 years in prison. However, on the basis of her appeal, her sentence was reduced to 4 years and 6 months, and she was released on parole in 1986. After her release, Jaroslava went to live with her mother but could not find a stable job, so she decided to travel around the Czech Republic and visit her relatives. Her travels often led her to Prague, where she would eventually stay and continue committing crimes. There, she continued engaging in prostitution, later drugging and robbing her clients for their money and belongings. To drug her clients, she would crush up sleeping pills and mix them with their drinks and soups. For Jaroslava, this new way of living was beneficial not only because she earned a lot of money, but she also avoided having sex with men she felt disgusted with. Her disgust with men stemmed mainly from her lesbian orientation. However, in 1996, Jaroslava’s world came crashing down when she was arrested for the death of a 60-year-old tourist who happened to die of an apparent overdose as a result of her concoction of beer and sleeping pills. Jaroslava was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by a 5-year ban on visiting Prague. In 2001, she was released on parole and, despite her banishment from the capital, she continued to visit and commit crimes. 

On 29 May, 2003, Jaroslava arrived back in Prague and bumped into a man, 84-year-old Augustin Kura, a former circus performer, who invited her out to dinner. The restaurant happened to be located close to Augustin’s apartment, so it is no surprise that the meeting ended with an invitation back to his home. There, Jarsoslava would strike again, increasing her victim count to 3. She hacked Augustin to death with a meat cleaver, then pulled his corpse to the living room and put a blanket over him. Afterwards, she then ransacked his apartment, stealing three expensive paintings and various electrical tools. Jarsoslava managed to sell two of the paintings, one to a buyer and one to a museum, and the third was discarded. Augustin’s son found his father deceased on 29 May and so a murder investigation was launched. Traces of Jarsoslava‘s DNA were found at the scene, and a witness came forward to say that they had seen Augustin with a woman in a restaurant prior to his death. A warrant for her arrest was issued. 

Unfortunately, before she was apprehended, Jarsoslava managed to commit another brutal murder. At the beginning of August 2003, she was hospitalised in Prague for three days, and after she was formally discharged, she decided to stay in the city and wander around. On August 8, Jarsoslava was approached by 31-year-old Richard S. on a tram. Richard later invited her to a disco and then to his home. There, at Richard’s apartment, she stabbed him a total of 38 times in the bathroom with a knife. On 10 August, 2003, Richard’s girlfriend received a phone call from his boss, explaining how Richard had not come to work and that he was worried as this was out of character. Concerned by this unusual phone call, Richard’s girlfriend contacted her daughter and sent her to his apartment to check on him. There, she found his slain corpse in the bathroom. He had been repeatedly stabbed in the chest. Upon further inspection of the crime scene, money, a video recorder, and other items were missing from the apartment. A murder investigation was launched. Again, traces of Jarsoslava‘s DNA were found, but this time, the DNA was found under Richard’s fingernails. 

On August 22, 2003, Jaroslava Fabianova was arrested and charged with the murder of both Augustin and Richard. During the investigation, she claimed that Augustin willingly gave her the paintings, and because he did not feel well at that time, she left the apartment and had nothing to do with his death. In the case of Richard, she admitted that she stole from him, but denied ever hurting him or ending his life. Between 1981 and 2003, Jaroslava killed a total of four men. In 2005, she was found guilty and became the third woman in the history of the Czech Republic to be sentenced to life imprisonment. A forensic psychiatrist claims she has an above-average IQ but suffers from a personality disorder: "She is egocentric and murders for money. She deserves nothing but life."

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On 24 September, 2019, Natalia and Igor Gafner from Zavodoukovsk, Russia, left their 6-month-old son Bogdan with 23-year-old Viktoria Aymetdinova while they attended a funeral for a few hours. Viktoria had been dating the couple’s eldest son, Andrey, for more than three years, but Andrey decided to finally break off relations, and the pair went their separate ways. Despite this, however, the couple saw no issues with Viktoria, and so she would babysit Bogdan occasionally. However, this time it would be different. Viktoria was angry that her beloved Andrey had left her and refused to rekindle their romance. She wanted revenge. When the family returned home, Viktoria and Bogdan were nowhere to be seen. Fearing for their child, Igor and Natalia began to look for the pair on their own before turning to police, reporting their disappearances. Their neighbours dropped everything and went out in search of a girl with a child. Dozens of volunteers, policemen, rescuers, and investigators combed the forest looking for Viktoria and Bogdan, and during this time, investigators opened a criminal case under the article "kidnapping of a minor". A day later, on 25 September, a woman's bag was found which contained the personal belongings of Viktoria, and approximately 30 metres from the road and 3 kilometres from the family's house, Viktoria was discovered in the forest. Nearby, a box lay, and in her hands was a package. And in the package was a dead baby. Viktoria was detained and charged with the kidnapping and murder of a minor. It was revealed that she strangled Bogdan, then set him on fire. However, he began to scream, and so she finished him off with a knife, stabbing him multiple times. 

Unfortunately, it seems as though there were already warning signs that something wasn't right with Viktoria before she committed this crime. She had posted several disturbing social media messages in the days leading up to the kidnapping and murder of baby Bogdan. One read: "There is only one Antichrist, this is me! I see the devil in everyone. And yes, by the way, I'm a wife! Whose? Then you will find out. " And "I see the devil in everyone". Viktoria’s acquaintances claim that she often dreamed of being rich and famous. On social networks, they wrote that on the eve of the kidnapping of the baby, she said that she would become a star. A friend of Viktoria said: "Vika has always been strange; she was aggressive. To be honest, we were sometimes afraid of her. We tried not to react to her attacks. She recently came to Muravlenko and wanted to meet up with me to talk, but something stopped me. It seems to me that Viktoria is not herself. And then friends said that she, it turns out, is registered with a psychiatrist.". It is known that at the age of 19, while intoxicated, she attacked a police officer and stabbed him several times. She did this because he had asked her to behave and not swear in public. And before that, she was accused of beating a minor. 

In March 2020, Viktoria Aymetdinova was formally declared insane and a compulsory medical measure was applied to her. She was sentenced to compulsory treatment in a specialised institution with intensive supervision.

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On 30 April, 2020, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, concerned law enforcement officers stopped a 38-year-old woman who was walking down the street naked with a knife and a package in her hand. The package contained a severed human head, and the woman was identified as Tatyana Pyanova. The severed head belonged to her 13-year-old daughter, Christina. When officers attempted to detain her, she behaved aggressively, threw a knife at them, and tried to escape. Back-up had to be called, and eventually, Tatyana was successfully detained. Officers seized the bloody knife from her, with which she presumably killed her daughter. She was taken to the local police department where she was charged with the premeditated murder of a minor under 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, but she could not explain her behaviour or understand what was happening. At the same time, police received an appeal from a 40-year-old man returning from work who found the headless body of his 13-year-old niece at home. Having phoned the police, he learned that a woman who looked like Tatyana had been detained on the street two hours ago and realised that she was the one who murdered Christina. Neighbours spoke of Tatyana as an adequate and hard-working woman. She was detained for 2 months. A video from the courtroom was posted on Facebook by journalist Anya Yurchenko, who was present at the meeting. It is known she stabbed her daughter more than 20 times. In the video, Tatyana fails to comprehend why she is in the courtroom and does not understand what daughter they are talking about. Her own daughter's name was Christina, but she claims that the victim’s name was Eva and asks people not to meddle in her personal life. "I will not listen to you, because I am not who you imagine me to be. God's judgement awaits me. Why should I listen to you if you don't? "- she said in court. Tatyana again behaves aggressively in court, shouts, swears and argues with those present. The majority of Facebook users in the comments of the video concluded that she is mentally ill, but some believe that her behaviour is faked to get away from punishment. On July 28, the Kyiv District Court of Kharkiv agreed with the arguments of the prosecution and remanded Tatyana in custody for another two months, until 25th September. The extension of the pre-trial detention is due to the fact that the psychiatric examination of her condition has not been completed yet.

[crime--europe]

is this blog still active?

Yes, I just have adult responsibilities and mental health problems that will be the death of me.

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On 9 October, 2019, 9-year-old Elizaveta Kiseleva left her house in Saratov, Russia, and went to school. When Elizaveta did not return from school, her mother thought that maybe she went to a friend’s house so decided to call Elizaveta’s friends. However, they explained that she had not been at school that day and so Elizaveta’s mother immediately called the police. Large-scale searches began on the same day. Law enforcement officers, rescuers, and volunteers were looking for Elizaveta. Volunteers gave out posters, combed streets, vacant lots and garages. In total, more than 2 thousand people were looking for Elizaveta, and each prayed for one thing: if only she were found alive. Searches were carried out at night. As a result, trash bags were searched and in one of them, Elizaveta’s shoes were found which her parents identified as hers. 

On 10 October, police began to open and search the garages located near her house. In one of them, the corpse of 9-year-old Elizaveta was found. The cause of death, according to preliminary data, was determined as strangulation. After midnight, news of the gruesome finding started to dominate and circulate the media. Elizaveta’s killer was later detained. It turned out to be 35-year-old Mikhail Tuvatin. Mikhail immediately confessed to the murder. In the evening of 11 October, officers went to the house of Mikhail Tuvatin’s mother with a search warrant. However, his mother didn’t want to let anyone in, barricaded herself in and shouted “Help” from the balcony. She also stated that her son is a wonderful person and that she does not believe in his guilt. According to information from neighbours, Mikhail’s mother is registered with a psychiatric clinic. It is worth noting that 9 years ago, Mikhail was found guilty of robbery and rape. In December 2010, he attacked a stranger, grabbing a girl by the neck and strangling her, demanding her to give him her valuables. The victim gave Mikhail her mobile phone and a camera. Afterwards, he took the girl around the corner, ordered her to take off her pants and then raped her. The police went on the trail to find Mikhail and arrested him on 6 January. He confessed that on 31 December, returning from prison, he attacked a stranger, threatening her, stole her mobile phone and camera, and then raped her. The court sentenced him to six and a half years in prison with serving in a maximum-security penal colony. 

On that fateful day, 9 October, Mikhail Tuvatin had been squatting in the garage near Elizaveta’s home. Elizaveta walked by on her way to school and asked if he knows who owns the garage. Mikhail thought that Elizaveta’s family may have owned the garage and afraid of exposure and ridicule, he dragged her into the garage where he strangled her with a cord. A medical examination showed that the offender did not commit violent acts of a sexual nature against Elizaveta. Mikhail Tuvatin was charged with the murder of a minor and is now being held in custody for two months. The funeral of Elizaveta took place on 13 October.

After the murder of Elizaveta, a survey was conducted on the return of the death penalty on VKontakte. 78.3% were in favour of returning the death penalty, 18% were against, 3.5% chose the “other” option. The older the respondents, the more often they advocate for the return of execution. Among people over 55 years of age, 55% of its supporters, in the age group from 40 to 54 years old, 53%, from 25 to 39 - 46%, from 18 to 24 - 35%. The support of the death penalty also depends on the level of education of the respondents. People with secondary education and below tend to support the return of the death penalty more often (53%) than university graduates (46%). Partly, older Russian citizens favour the death penalty, because until the 1990s it was still used in the country.

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On 31 August, 2019, 38-year-old Movsur Chentiev was at home in Saratov, Russia, with his 26-year-old wife, 2-year-old son and 2-month-old daughter. When his wife went to the store, Movsur grabbed a knife and began to cut off his daughter’s head and then disposed of her tiny body in a bag which he carried to the attic. His wife later returned home, but Movsur said nothing. She asked where their baby daughter was to which he replied that someone had allegedly kidnapped her. The wife called the police immediately and arriving at the scene, officers found the corpse of the 2-month-old baby and a knife nearby. Movsur was detained by officers and charged with the murder of a minor. After his arrest, he explained how he did not want his daughter to be tormented when she grew older as she suffered from a congenital disorder. After Movsur was arrested, he pleaded guilty, saying that he did not regret his deed. The issue of choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention is still being decided.

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In 2009, two brothers, 28-year-old Timur and 23-year-old Marat from Perm, Russia, reported their older brother, Rafis, missing to the police. However, the police became suspicious when the brothers were vague when giving details about Rafis’s sudden disappearance. As a result, they raided their home where they discovered a human skeleton buried in the garden. The skeleton had been completely removed of flesh. Immediately, both brothers confessed to murdering and eating their brother, Rafis. Timur said he had eaten Rafis because he couldn’t face going back to prison where he had just served a total of 10 years for murdering his next-door neighbour. “Yes, we decided to eat it. I didn’t want to go back, so we cut off his head and buried it, and cut his body into pieces and kept it in the refrigerator. We cooked and ate it for six months,” he added. Timur later said that Rafis was to blame for his imprisonment as he handed him over to the police for the murder but Marat took Timur’s side in the dispute and ever since, they despised Rafis and held a grudge against him for what he did which ultimately resulted in the brutal murder of him. When Timur arrived home after being released from prison, an argument erupted between him and Rafis. During the fight, Marat intervened and together, Timur and Marat beat Rafis to death. 

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I hope you're doing okay :( you're one of the best true crime blogs around and I really like you and your content

Thanks.

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On 28 July, 2016, 29-year-old Denis Danilov, armed with a knife and an axe, entered his 66-year-old neighbours home in Krasnodar, Russia, through an unlocked door. Upon entering the house, he began to stab his neighbour in a frenzied attack and then turned his attention to her three grandchildren, two girls aged 7 and 9 and a boy aged 11. All four victims died at the scene having been stabbed in the neck. After the massacre, Denis immediately fled the scene. It must be noted that Denis’s mother, Elena, also helped to hide the traces of the crime and that she knew of his location which later resulted in Denis being detained. During the investigation, Denis revealed that the neighbours would troll his family and one day, he just had an urge to go to the house and kill them. Upon further investigation, it was uncovered that for several years, Denis’s mother, Elena illegally collected information about the personal and family life of the neighbours, making a hidden video of their daily lives, while turning Denis against them. Elena was also unhappy that the neighbouring children were constantly noisy. When investigators announced their intention to detain Elena, she, in order to avoid liability, announced her readiness to transfer 50 thousand rubles as a bribe. The detective warned her about criminal liability for these actions, but she still transferred the money, after which she was detained by police. After 2 years, Denis and his mother were convicted. Denis will spend the rest of his life in a special regime colony for the murder of his 66-year-old neighbour and her three grandchildren, committed with particular cruelty and the illegal entry into his neighbour’s house. His mother, Elena Danilova, was found guilty of incitement and complicity in the commission of this crime, violation of privacy and giving a bribe and was sentenced to 15 years in a penal colony.

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In the summer of 2018, 14-year-old Kristina Smirnova and her parents, originally from St Petersburg, Russia, arrived in a village near Lake Seliger in the Tver Region to vacation and visit relatives. On 18 August, Kristina went cycling around the district but never returned and did not answer any phone calls from her parent’s. Her 35-year-old mother sounded the alarm that day and reported her missing to the local police. Everyone rushed in to help search for Kristina. However, two days later, in a farm building between the villages of Zhar and Lyapino, Ostashkovsky District, a military doctor discovered the dismembered, severely mutilated and headless body of a young girl. The naked body was confirmed to be that of Kristina Smirnova. Her rectum, genitals and limbs were missing and her face was covered in blood. It was determined that she had also been raped. A murder investigation was launched and officers later detained a 61-year-old pensioner named Sergey Shcherbakov with a disturbing past. Immediately after the arrest, Sergey confessed to everything. He showed where he hid Kristina’s bicycle, clothes as well as the weapons. He had scattered all the evidence on various sites in the area of ​​the villages of Zhar, Lyapino and Soroga. He explained his deed by the fact that he was drunk and could not control himself. It turned out that murder wasn’t a new thing to Sergey as his records showed that he had committed murder with particular cruelty in 2002 after he raped and gutted a female friend in a dormitory in Vyshny Volochyok, for which he received 15 years in a special regime colony, being released in 2017. 

Upon further investigation, it was uncovered that Sergey had spotted Kristina and attacked her, raping her before stabbing her 30 times. He proceeded to cut off her head with a knife as well as her genitals and attempted to dismember her body with an axe, however, dismembering her whole body proved to be difficult and was taking a lot longer than he first anticipated so to avoid being caught, he abandoned his plan and fled the scene. In April, 2019, Sergey Shcherbakov was sentenced to life imprisonment. He will spend the first five years of his imprisonment in prison, and the rest of the term in a special regime colony. In addition, he is obliged to pay a million rubles to Kristina Smirnova’s family. 

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On 18 August, 2019, in Patrikeevo, Ulyanovsk, Russia, 16-year-old Timerlan Kamaletdinov at 3AM sent a friend a voice message. In the message, Timerlan explains how he does not love his 42-year-old mother, Marina or his 4-year-old twin siblings and that the only way to solve this is to murder them. At the same time, he admits that he loves his grandparents dearly, but does not want them to suffer or be upset by the death of his mother and siblings so decided that he will kill them too. As most teenagers have a love-hate relationship with their mother and siblings, nothing seemed particularly suspicious about Timerlan’s message and his friend just laughed it off, thinking it was a morbid joke. However, Timerlan was serious and he would carry out his sinister plan just a few hours later with an axe. First, he killed his mother, then grandfather, then grandmother and then his twin siblings last. When Timerlan’s grandparents didn’t show up to their vegetable garden that they cared for every day, the neighbours became suspicious and decided to visit the house. In the house, they found the hacked and disfigured bodies of five individuals and called the police. When police arrived at the scene, there was no sign of Timerlan but his corpse would later be found after he jumped from a cell tower near his home. In a suicide note that he left, he said that he decided to take his own life, and confessed that he had he killed his mother, grandparents and little brother and sister. In the note, he also explained how he adored all his family members and mostly, he loved his 66-year-old grandfather, Viktor, and 69-year-old grandmother, Lidia and that he regretted killing them. He primarily had no intention in killing them but changed his mind so that they couldn’t feel sad with the death of other family members. 

It was uncovered that his mother, Marina was divorced and took care of the children as a single mother with help from the grandparents. Timerlan was supposedly jealous of his siblings as they received much more love, care and attention than he ever did. It was also revealed that Marina had become a popular blogger and began to write articles about her life, including Timerlan. In one article, Marina talks about how Timerlan is restless, constantly demanding attention and often showed signs of aggression, but at the age of 15, he changed and became a confident, independent young man with a bright future ahead of him. Neighbours later mentioned that Timerlan was a brilliant student and relatives were proud to be related to him, due to his intellectual remarkableness. Psychiatrists who have studied the suicide note have come to the conclusion that Timerlan may have had an underlying mental disorder. 

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The crime scene where a man stabbed his 40-year-old wife to death with a chisel in Lesnoy, Russia. The investigation found that on the night of 5, July, 2019, a man in a state of intoxication using a chisel inflicted multiple wounds on his wife. The victim died at the scene of the crime. It was uncovered that the couple had been married since 2000. For several years, there were many conflicts in the family. The man had repeatedly used violence against his wife and she even applied for protection to law enforcement agencies. Not having a permanent job, and always abusing alcohol, he continued to show aggression towards his wife, which led to tragic consequences. The deceased leaves behind a 20-year-old daughter from her first marriage and a 17-year-old son.

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On 23 October, 2018, in Zheleznogorsk, Russia, 7-year-old Danil Biryukov and his friend were on their way home from school when they went into a convenience store and bought cookies and crackers. After this, they parted ways and continued the short walk back home. However, Danil did not return home that day. Immediately, Danil’s parent’s sounded the alarm and went to the police to report him missing. For several days, search parties, as well as hundreds of volunteers from all regions, searched the area. With no success, investigators decided to speak to locals and visit neighbours who might have seen or heard something regarding Danil’s strange disappearance. A disabled neighbour from the ground floor, sitting at the window, said that he had seen with his own eyes how Danil had entered the nine-story apartment block. This lead forced officers to visit all neighbours which led to one neighbour in particular named Vitaly Pashchevsky who refused to allow police into his apartment. The man was described as suspicious and seemed to look worried about the investigation.

On 30 October, Vitaly was arrested after having already aroused suspicion among the police. When investigators entered his apartment, they saw blood-stains on the floor and discovered Danil’s belongings. After hours of interrogation, Vitaly confessed and led police to where he disposed of Danil’s corpse. As it turned out, on that fateful day, Danil had, in fact, entered the nine-story building where he lived at around 3PM. Since he lived on the top floor, he went into the elevator with his 40-year-old neighbour, Vitaly Pashchevsky, from the fourth floor. Vitaly lured Danil into his apartment, promising to show him something interesting. Danil agreed and followed Vitaly. During the time the police were searching the apartment building, Danil was in Vitaly’s apartment. However, since the police had no evidence or warrant, they could not enter. In his testimony, Vitaly claimed that the first days after the abduction, he did not touch Danil or harm him but only fed and cared for him. The violence and murder occurred only two days later on 25 October, when the city was searching for Danil. Though it is known that Danil was subjected to horrific torture and rape for a long time before he was eventually killed by a stab wound to the head. After Vitaly had murdered Danil, he packed up his corpse into a large sports back, took it to the village of Troyanovo, located 20 km from Zheleznogorsk and hid the body in a forest plantation, behind his mother’s summer cottage, throwing leaves, branches and grass in an attempt to conceal the corpse.  

In August, 2019, 40-year-old Vitaly Pashchevsky was sentenced to 23 years imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony and was ordered to pay £37,500 to Danil’s parents. In addition to the abuse of Danil and his murder, Vitaly was accused of other crimes, including the dissemination of pornographic materials on the internet which involved minors. It is also known that he photographed some of the physical and sexual abuse he inflicted on Danil before he murdered him. The court ordered the memory card to be destroyed. 

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In the spring of 2015, citizens of Kiev, Ukraine, were in a state of panic after rumours spread around the capital that a serial killer was on the loose and was targeting and killing women in broad daylight. The killer would target women in secluded parks, stab them to death with a knife, steal their belongings and then rape their corpse. In one case, he decapitated a victim then had sex with her headless body. The women of Kiev were advised not to go out alone or to any secluded areas where the killer could be lurking. However, his reign of terror upon Ukraine’s capital would soon come to an end when investigators were able to track down one of the victim’s cell phones in his possession. The killer was identified as 46-year-old Bakhtier Matyakubov, a native of Uzbekistan. He told arresting officers: 'If you had not detained me, I would have committed another murder. I planned a murder tonight, and I would not stop.' It was uncovered that he had not only murdered three women in Kiev, Ukraine, but had also murdered five women in Moscow, Russia and three in his homeland in Uzbekistan, a total of 11 victims. Bakhtier had committed his first murder in Moscow, Russia, on 1st January, 2015 after reading messages from another man on his wife’s cell phone. He became angry and his wife immediately left their shared apartment in a hurry. Unable to process the humiliation and pain, Bakhtier took his brother’s car and went after her. “I wanted to look into her eyes for the last time”, he said. However, when he found her, she was talking to a man at a train station. This betrayal would be the last straw for Bakhtier and would begin to fuel his everlasting hatred for women. Armed with a knife, he set out looking for a potential victim and he found one. A local prostitute named Julia Anpilova. Bakhtier lured Julia into his car and drove her out of town where he proceeded to stab her several times and disposed of her body in a ravine. According to the Investigative Committee of Russia, Bakhtier committed murders in Moscow and the Moscow Region from January to April 2015. He preferred to track women in deserted places such as secluded parks however he attacked some of his victims in stores. When asked why he murdered the women, he explained simply that he hates all women and considers them all to be prostitutes. 

On 2 April, 2019, Bakhtier Matyakubov pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He spoke in detail about his crimes. He will serve his sentence in a special regime colony. It was also established that he suffers from borderline personality disorder. Ever since childhood, Bakhtier made a habit of wearing white gloves in fits of anger and wore white gloves when he was murdering his victims. Because of this, he is referred to as ‘The Maniac In White Gloves’. 

[crime--europe]

On 23rd June, 2019, 13-year-old schoolgirl Inna Dubik from Mirolyubovka, Ukraine, disappeared. In the afternoon, at about 2PM, she went to the store but did not return home. However, it was only a week later on 29 June that her mother reported her disappearance to the police. She claimed to have been searching for Inna on her own, hoping she would eventually return. The family is considered dysfunctional in the village, the parents had a tendency to drink, therefore they did not immediately notice the absence of their daughter. Police and local volunteers began searching for Inna that day. At first, it was thought that she may be with her friends in Zhovti Vody. However, a 24-year-old local resident was later arrested on suspicion of murder. He confessed that he had raped and strangled Inna and then buried her corpse to hide all traces of the crime. He pointed out the place where he buried Inna’s corpse. On 5 July, her body was discovered buried in a forest not far from her home village. The court has detained the killer until 2nd September, 2019 without the right to make bail.

[crime--europe]

On 22nd April, 2019, in Omsk, Russia, 53-year-old Alexander Dranenko had been drinking heavily and was having frightening hallucinations. Because of this, he grabbed his 2-year-old grandson, who was sleeping in his crib, by the legs and put him into the oven. The baby's 21-year-old mother was at work at this time. However, the child was saved from death by the fact that he was stuck with his shoulders in the opening. Alexander’s wife, whom he beat and pushed out the door during the incident, heard her grandson’s cries, but she alone could not stop Alexander. She ran for help to a neighbour’s house and together, they were able to break into the house and save the boy. But by that time, the entire upper half of his body and head were already severely burned. An ambulance arrived and the child was taken to the intensive care unit. Due to the extent of his burns, it was agreed that he should be put into a medically induced coma. On that terrible day, realizing what he had done, Alexander simply left his 2-year-old grandson to die, escaped and cared only to be saved himself from reprisal. He was caught the next day. As for the child, doctors did everything they could, however, three days later, on 26 April, he succumbed to his injuries. Alexander was arrested and charged with the murder of a minor, committed with particular cruelty. When the judge suggested that he await his trial in jail after declaring him as a danger to society, Alexander replied: “I agree that I must be isolated.”