Early life[]
Very little is known about Sidorov's upbringing. The older of two brothers, he was born in Moscow in 1972, followed by his younger brother Vyacheslav eight years later. Once he graduated from high school, Dmitry received a specialized secondary education and found work as a furniture assembler, later helping his younger brother to get a job in the same field. Despite the age difference, the two brothers were almost inseparable and shared common interests, mostly revolving around participating in local politics.[1]
Around 1997, the brothers met Gennady Slavnov, a noted contemporary political dissident known for criticizing the Yeltsin administration, at a political rally in Moscow. Following the election of Vladimir Putin, Slavnov's political activity declined and he became interested in religion, leading to him joining a fringe totalitarian religious sect.[1] He eventually convinced the Sidorov brothers to join him, and using his expertise as a psychologist to influence their beliefs.[2]
A number of circumstances led to this - both Dmitry and Vyacheslav never married, had problems with talking to women and were unsatisfied with working in low-paid professions, leaving them more susceptible to the influence of people they perceived as having more authority than them.[1]
Radicalization[]
In the late 2000s, Slavnov moved in to live with the brothers at their apartment in the Orekhovo-Borisovo neighborhood. At around this time, the brothers' views became even more radicalized, as both they and Slavnov became misanthropes who considered "asocial individuals" to have no right to live and should be exterminated.[1]
In early 2013, Slavnov's mental state deteriorated rapidly, as he started claiming that the apocalypse was near and that the brothers had a mission to cleanse humanity of those who lived unrighteous lives. Supposedly, he was told of this mission by unseen voices he heard in his head, but this not deter Dmitry and Vyacheslav, who soon embarked on a killing spree.[2]
Murders[]
In the ensuing months, the two brothers would go out into the streets of Moscow armed with knives and search for people they considered to be "unrighteous".[3] They had no set criteria for what this meant, as some were killed simply for smoking a cigarette or having a bottle of alcohol in their hands.[3] All the murders (except for two in May, which Dmitry carried out by himself) were committed by both brothers on the orders of Slavnov, who was actively complicit. After each murder, they would also steal the victims' phones.[2]
The first murder was committed on 8 March. Slavnov and the Sidorov brothers were walking in an underground passage when they came across two homeless men - upon seeing them, Slavnov ordered the brothers to kill them. Dmitry and Vyacheslav then pushed the two men to the ground and stabbed them to death. Since there were no surveillance cameras at the time, nobody saw the assailants, allowing them to escape undetected.[1]
On 31 March, Slavnov informed Dmitry that it was time to commit another murder. On that day, Dmitry and Vyacheslav attacked two passers-by on Mikhailova Street in southeastern Moscow, stabbing them multiple times and abandoning them to bleed out on the sidewalk. This attack was witnessed by other people who immediately called an ambulance, allowing the two victims to be saved on time.[1]
On 2 May, Dmitry murdered a 32-year-old resident of Mozhaisk named Andrei Polin, but little information is available about this crime.[1] Two Twelve days later, on 14 May, the brothers decided to break into a Mosenergo water pumping facility in the Brateevo neighborhood. They climbed over the fence and managed to enter the facility, but were spotted by security guards who saw them on CCTV. One of the guards then attempted to detain them, but he was overpowered and held down by Vyacheslav while Dmitry stabbed him a total of 12 times. The Sidorovs then escaped, leaving no usable traces at the crime scene, further complicated by the fact that their faces were too blurred to be identified on the CCTV footage.[1]
On 13 July, the Sidorov brothers went to the village of Ilyinsky in the Ramensky District, where they randomly came across a man who was going to go swimming.[1] They attacked him then and there, with both of them stabbing him a total of 16 times, killing the victim on the spot. On the evening of the same day, Slavnov convinced them to kill a tenant in the apartment building, 25-year-old Azerbaijani chef Elmir Mamedov.[4] The two brothers then stalked Mamedov for several hours, before finally stabbing him to death on Marshal Zakharov Street in Moscow.[4]
Arrest, trial and imprisonment[]
All three men were arrested on the day after Mamedov's murder and taken to the Orekhovo-Borisovo Yuzhnoye Police Station, where Dmitry managed to escape by jumping out of window while still handcuffed. During a search of the apartment, officers located about 40 knives with different lengths, several axes and hammers, jars with various acids and a model of a human head made of cellophane and paper.[3] When asked what the head was for, Vyacheslav claimed that it was a practice dummy for stabbing.[1]
Five days after escaping, Dmitry was arrested on the outskirts of Moscow and brought back to the police station, where he tried to escape a second time.[1] Taking advantage of the guards being distracted, he attacked the officers and leapt out of another window, but broke both of his legs during the fall - due to these injuries, he had to walk on crutches for the next couple of months. This not deter him from attempting to escape a third time - while he was being driven to the hospital for a medical check-up, Dmitry attempted to break out of the police van using his crutches, but he was noticed by the guards, who immediately stopped and restrained him.[1]
During their subsequent interrogations, both brothers claimed that they were responsible for 36 murders in total, but no supporting evidence was found to confirm their claims. In regards to motive, both of them made various explanations at different times, but the one that they repeated most often is that they were misogynists who tried to make women suffer by killing their men.[1]
Prior to the start of the trial, lawyers for the Sidorov brothers and Slavnov requested that all three undergo a forensic psychiatric exam, which was granted by the courts. After spending several months at the Serbsky Center, psychiatrists concluded that Slavnov suffered from a severe form of schizophrenia, but the brothers were both found to be of sound mind. As a result, their trial was set to begin in early 2016.[1] In the course of the proceedings, both of them acted aggressively towards the judge, the prosecutors and the witnesses; expressed no remorse for their crimes and constantly mocked the victims and their relatives. At the last court hearing, Dmitry and Vyacheslav started feigning insanity, claiming that the entire trial was a theatrical play and that they were prosecuted for their political beliefs. In the end, the Moscow City Court found Dmitry guilty of six murders, while Vyacheslav was found guilty of four. On 4 April 2016, both were sentenced to life imprisonment and transferred to serve their sentences at the Vologodskiy Pyatak Colony on Ognenny Ostrov.[5] Reportedly, they were the first siblings in the modern history of Russia to be sentenced to life imprisonment for the same crimes.[5]
In regards to Slavnov, he was repeatedly tested for improvements to his mental state, all of which proved fruitless. During one of his initial court hearings, he screamed loudly and waved his hands around, and at one point even pulled out a razor, but was stopped before he could himself or anyone else (how he obtained the razor remains unknown).[6] On 19 February 2016, Slavnov was found not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered to be interned at a psychiatric clinic with intensive supervision.[6]
Victims[]
Murder victims[]
| Name | Age | Date of Death | Cause of Death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed homeless man | 8 March 2013 | Stabbing | |
| Unnamed homeless man | 8 March 2013 | Stabbing | |
| Andrei Polin | 32 | 2 May 2013 | Stabbing |
| Unnamed security guard | 14 May 2013 | Stabbing | |
| Unnamed man | 13 July 2013 | Stabbing | |
| Elmir Mamedov | 25 | 13 July 2013 | Stabbing |
Attacked victims[]
| Name | Age | Date of Attack |
|---|---|---|
| Unnamed man | 31 March 2013 | |
| Unnamed man | 31 March 2013 |
Timeline[]
Bibliography[]
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In popular culture[]
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Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Yulia Grishina (4 June 2016). Serial killers sentenced to life practiced their attacks on a dummy (Russian). MK.ru. Archived from the original on April 1, 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Alexander Rogoza (4 April 2016). In Moscow, two brothers who killed passersby on orders from a sectarian received life sentences (Russian). Komsomolskaya Pravda. Archived from the original on April 2, 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Yulia Shcherbakova (4 April 2016). Murders Brothers Receive Life Sentences in Moscow (Russian). Komsomolskaya Pravda. Archived from the original on April 1, 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Three Caucasians Stabbed to Death an Azerbaijani Chef in Moscow (Russian). NEWSru (14 July 2013). Archived from the original on April 2, 2025.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Anna Komissarova (15 February 2025). "They Had a Craving for Murder" How Two Brothers Decided to Cleanse Moscow of Sinners and Received Life Sentences for Brutal Massacres (Russian). Lenta.ru. Archived from the original on April 1, 2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Yulia Afanasyeva (19 February 2016). Leader of gang of passerby killers sent for compulsory treatment (Russian). MK.ru. Archived from the original on April 2, 2025.