They were raised by Soviet society: stories of maniacs in the USSR

Not only parents, but also schools, pioneer organizations, and mass propaganda were involved in the education of the Soviet person. All of this definitely influenced the consciousness of every citizen.

Despite all the efforts to build an ideal society, the darker sides of human nature often broke through to the surface. Belarusian blogger and researcher of the USSR Maksim Mirovich talks about the maniacs and serial killers whose horrific mark has remained forever in Soviet history.

Sometimes older people say that the Soviet Union was the safest and most stable country in the world. But in reality, this is not true, and this impression could be due to the total silencing of the truth.

In the mid-1980s, the USSR ranked 5th in terms of the number of murders per capita among all other countries. In addition, there were 4 times as many suicides in the union as in Western Europe, as well as high rates of smoking, alcoholism, divorce, abortion, rape, etc.

The Soviet media never talked about any of this, or about the brutal maniacs who were rampaging through the streets. And the authorities were sometimes either too irresponsible in their detention or even pushed people to commit crimes.

Vladimir Yonesyan, nicknamed "Mosgaz"

This man is considered one of the first serial killers in the USSR. He received his nickname "Mosgaz" because he came to his victims, introducing himself as a housing office worker or a supervisor from Mosgaz. His crimes could not be concealed even then, as he operated in Moscow, not somewhere in the provinces. Before he was caught and executed, he managed to kill 6 people.

Yonesyan studied at a music school and was generally a very talented student. But, according to one version, the future killer was sentenced for "evading military duty" and ended up in a camp, where he presumably lost his sanity.

Chykatilo

Andrii Chykatilo is perhaps the most famous of all Soviet maniacs, who managed to brutally murder 53 people during his atrocities. Before Chykatil's arrest, the Soviet police arrested several people. One of the detainees even confessed to other people's murders under torture and was shot dead.

However, if you dive into the biography of this maniac, it becomes obvious why he became a thief. Chikatilo was born in 1936 in Ukraine. His grandfather was dekulakized, and his father, who was captured, was repressed and sent to a camp. The future killer's brother was eaten during the Holodomor, which repeatedly frightened the young Chekatilo's mother. Of course, this does not in any way justify the killer, but it gives us a better understanding of how the Soviet occupation affected the consciousness and minds of its victims.

Gennady Mikhasevich

Gennady Mikhasevich is also known as the Belarusian maniac and the Vitebsk strangler. During the 12 years of his atrocities, he killed 36 women.

From the outside, Mikhasevich seemed like a model Soviet man. He did not drink, did not smoke, had a family, and was active in public life. He was often held up as an example to others, which influenced the fact that law enforcement officers arrested and tortured 14 innocent people in his case. In the end, one of the suspects was shot dead, another tried to commit suicide, the third served 10 years in prison, and the fourth was left disabled after a 6-year sentence.

We can also recall Nikolai Gridyagin, the strangler of girls, rapist and serial killer of Boris Gusakov, and Anatoly Slivka, who was a member of the Communist Party and had the title of "Honored Teacher of the RSFSR." These are just the most high-profile of the many cases of serial murder that have been declassified since the collapse of the USSR.

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