Unimaginable Evil: The Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs

Today, we’re looking at a case that shocked not just Ukraine, where it occurred, but the entire world the horrific story of the Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs –. Yes, I practiced saying that city name. If you find this sort of content interesting, hit the like and consider subscribing.

It's the middle of summer 2007 in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. The country is recovering after a period of political upheaval, but things are settling down and people are enjoying the warm weather... and then they started to find battered bodies around the city and neighboring towns. Two young men, Viktor Sayenko and Igor Suprunyuck, were on a brutal spree that would claim at least 21 lives.

To understand their heinous acts and how they came to this, we need to start with their childhoods. Viktor Sayenko and Igor Suprunyuck were both born in 1988, with Igor born on April 20th sharing his birthday with a certain German dictator, a fact that seemed to make Igor proud. Growing up, they appeared to be normal kids, but by their teenage years, they began displaying disturbing behaviors. They had met in school and formed a friendship with another boy named Alexander Hanzha.

At around 14 they decided that they needed to get over their fears by facing them head on. Suprunyuk and Sayenko were afraid of heights, so they would hang off the balcony of a 14th floor apartment. When this seemed to ease their acrophobia, they began to see what else they could do. This is where they go from stupid to evil. 

Hanzha was afraid of blood and he had a kitten that he was terrified he would accidentally hurt. Somehow, Suprunyuk came to the conclusion that the way to get over this would be to actually hurt animals. The boys would go after stray dogs and cats they could find and would photograph themselves posing with the bodies after they had done horrible things to them. In some of these pictures, they would draw national socialist imagery with the animals blood, along with creepy notes. 3 years after the boys had started this bizarre series of experiments, they started to victimize people. Suprunyuk and Sayenko were soon arrested for stealing a bike but they were not incarcerated because they were still minors. There are also reports of fairly brutal attacks and robberies against classmates.

After they left school, the 3 would look for work with Suprunyuk using his car to act as an illegal taxi, sort of a precursor to uber. He had been given the car by his parents, which set him apart from much of his peer group. It is said his dad was a pilot with connections in the government.

Suprunyuk would soon realize that every passenger was an opportunity to get some cash and recruited Sayenko and Hanzha to begin robbing them. But Hanzha backed out as Igor and Viktor escalated their crimes and violence. Several of their robbery victims had been severely beaten. At least one of these robberies was recorded- the robbery of a 70 year old woman who would lose sight in 1 eye and several teeth in the incident.

Now, let's fast forward to 2007. In the spring there was severe political turmoil as the president dissolved parliament then held special elections to replace them. Meanwhile, in Dnepropetrovsk, Igor Suprunyuk and Viktor Sayenko had moved past robberies and assault and started massacring people at random. On the night of June 24th, they took the life of their first known victim, 23 year old Vadim Bogdan who was a govt employee, possibly a policeman. He was bludgeoned in the town of Krillovka after accepting a ride from Suprunyuk. There was also a homicide on March 3rd that may have been part of the spree, 61 year old Viktor Gatunok who had been traveling along the highway between Dnepropetrovsk and Novomosky.

After Bogdan, the attacks came rapidly. The next day 3 people were attacked, 2 of whom did not survive. Yekaterina Ilchenko, a 33-year-old mother, was walking home from a friend's house in the Kommunar housing estate. Suprunyuk had a hammer with him and as he and Sayenko passed her on the sidewalk, he turned and attacked her from behind and bludgeoned with a hammer. Her body would remain undiscovered until early the next morning by her own mother.

Just an hour later, they struck again, ending the life of 35 year old Roman Tatarevich with a series of hammer blows to the head. He had been asleep on a bench outside a prosecutors office located a few minutes from the first crime scene. The attack had been so severe that his skull was shattered and when he was found shortly after Yekaterina he could not be identified by appearance. That night a 58 year old man named Viktor Pertsev who was beaten as well but luckily, he survived.

These senseless murders were just the beginning of a horrific spree. Over the next few weeks, Viktor and Igor's crimes continued to escalate.

On June 28th, the pair ambushed 69 year old Alexey Kovbasa. This is the most infamous of their crimes, and the whole thing was filmed and later leaked on the internet. Many articles claim the video depicts the July 12th victim, Sergei Yatzenko, however Yatzenko was riding a motorcycle while Kovbasa was ambushed while riding his biycycle through a wooded area which is what the video depicts. Suprunkyuk and Sayenko filmed the entire 8 minute ordeal including the moment they smashed him off his bike with a hammer concealed in a paper bag, showing a disturbing lack of remorse as they laughed and taunted their victim.

The brutality was extreme, the pair used a hammer to knock him off his motorcycle then dragged him into the woods and used a screwdriver to stab at his abdomen, before finally smashing his head. This prolonged torture was all caught on camera, as was Sayenko and Suprunyuks laughter. Though it is theorized that many of their attacks were filmed, this is the only one to have been leaked online. Mr. Kovbasa's body was left in the woods to be found days later.

July 1 saw the tragic deaths of high school student Yevgeniya Grishenko, and a 56 year old man named Nikolai Serchuk, in the town Novomoskovsk. Grishenko was walking with a friend, who managed to escape, while Serchuk lost his life near his home. Both victims fit the Maniacs pattern and brutal methods.

On July 6th, the terror continued- a 21 year old army recruit named Egor Nechovoloda was attacked as he walked home from a club and was found the next morning by his mother just outside their home. Around the corner from where Egors body was found a security guard named Yelena Shram was found, battered and broken. Her own sweater had been used to wipe blood from the blunt instrument that she had been struck by.

They did not stop at 2 that night, and another woman was found massacred, Valentina Hanzha was a mother of 3. Every victim was met with a blitz attack. Suprunuk and Sayenko would approach them with a hammer concealed from view.

The very next day they attacked 2 boys in who were riding their bikes to go fishing. One was able to escape, but Andrei Sidyuk was not so lucky. His friend, Vadim Lyakhov was initially arrested. Despite aggressive interrogation techniques, the boy refused to confess to having anything to do with the attack on his friend. Once investigators were satisfied of his innocence, they at last saw a the pattern of brutal crimes. 

Finally they connected the series of bludgeonings, and realized that one or one pair of suspects was behind the slew of homicides. Prior to this, police had strongly asserted that the homicides in the area had been isolated incidents. Lyakhov was able to give them a description of the 2 men who had ran up on him and his friend. This was added to the case file as police began cross referencing the evidence on the prolific monsters they sought.

On July 14th, Suprunyuk and Sayenko would repeat the procedure they had used on Mr. Kovbasa. This time, it was 48 year old Sergei Yatzenko who was unlucky enough to ride by the pair on his motorcycle. His battered remains would be found 4 days later in the woods just off the side of the road that he had been traveling on.

To add a final act of disrespect, they would also attend some victims funerals and can be seen flipping the bird to gravestones in the collection of photos that police confiscated.

Around the same time as Yatsenko, they also took the life of Natalia Mamarchuk, a 45-year-old woman. She was cycling home through a wooded area in the city Diyovka when she was knocked off her bike and beaten with a hammer and metal bar. Once again, there were witnesses. 2 kids who were camping nearby saw the homicide of Mamarchuk. The description that they would give police closely resembled that given to them by Lyakhov. 

In response to the vicious series of homicides, a special team was sent from Kyiv. For some reason, most of the investigation was kept secret and no official files have been released to the public. This is possibly a vestige from the days that Ukraine was under soviet control. The USSR downplayed and obscured serial homicide. They claimed it was a result of the decadence of capitalism and did their best to hide any evidence to the contrary.

 This is one of the reasons the identities of many victims are unknown, but it also makes the leak of the Kovbasa video even more horrible. Authorities couldn't let the public know all the specifics of the crime spree and investigation, yet one of them was willing to release one of the most brutal videos the internet has ever seen. Horrifyingly the video spread throughout the internet, shocking the world. It is bizarre to me that this sort of video is allowed online with no penalty for the websites that host them. It's highly disrespectful to the victims

Their spree would continue until July 23, 2007 when the pair was finally arrested. They were caught when Suprunyuk tried to sell a mobile phone stolen from one of their victims for less than $30. When the pawn shop owner did the usual check with police, the phone came back to a homicide victiim. What the police found on that phone sealed the evil pair's fate – disturbing videos and photos documenting their crimes. Hanzha was also arrested arrested and can be seen in the court photographs.

One of the most disturbing aspects of their crimes is the theory that they were recording these murders to sell as snuff videos. Snuff videos are films that depict actual homicides for the entertainment of viewers. This theory arose because of the way they meticulously recorded their crimes, showing no fear of being caught. A classmate would also report that Igor had bragged about being paid for a special video to his friend, though this information comes 3rd hand. It is true that investigators believe they might have been part of an underground network that sold this horrific sort of content.

Their trial started on June 24, 2008, and it was one of the most followed cases in Ukraine. Supruyuk was charged with 21 homicides, 8 robberies, and one count of animal cruelty. Sayenko was charged with 18 homicides, 5 robberies and a count of animal cruelty. Their old friend Alexander Hanzha was charged with 2 counts of armed robbery. All 3 would confess quickly after their arrest, though Suprunkyuk would try to withdraw his. The lawyer for the victim's families, Larisa Dovgal, went after the prosecution, saying that there were many additional homicides not included and that there should be at least 5 defendants on trial not 3.

Suprunyuks lawyer made a failed attempt arguing his client was insane, and when that did not work, he resigned and a replacement was appointed. Hanzha and Sayenko plead guilty though their lawyers alleged improper police and interrogation procedures in an attempt to get evidence thrown out. These efforts failed, as did the claim by Sayenkos dad, an influential lawyer, that his son was psychologically dependent on Suprunyuk and had been lead down a dark path unwillingly. Though this was at the same time he argued that his son was innocent of the spree of homicides anyway.

The evidence was overwhelming and the defense seemed desperate. Despite hundreds of videos and photographs chronicling the young men's descent into violence and homicide, the attempted to claim the people in the photos and videos were not the defendants. At the time, it would have been near impossible to edit the videos to frame Suprunyuk and Sayenko, now with AI video generation it becomes easier every day. The defense lawyers claimed that the real culprits were allowed to walk free due to power and influence which might be the same people who the vicitms lawyers said should be on trial. In the end, they were convicted on February 11, 2009. Suprunyuk and Sayenko were found guilty for the homicides, robberies and animal cruelty and got life sentences. Alexander Hanzha was given 9 years in prison. Based on his statements, he seems to be both disgusted and terrified of his former friends. Essentially that if he had any idea of what they had been doing, he would never go near them.

In August of 2009 there was an appeal. Somehow, despite the evidence The maniacs families still claimed that they were innocent. However, it was not successful and on November 24, 2009 the sentences for Sayenko and Suprunyuk were upheld. Alexander Hanzha was released in 2019 and is said to have a wife and 2 children.

The families of the victims are still dealing with the aftermath. Experts have tried to understand what drove Viktor and Igor to such extremes, but the answers remain unclear. It seems a mix of boredom, a desire for fame, and a complete lack of empathy played a role.