Support The Moscow Times!

Police, Locals Hunt for Hammer-Wielding Thief

Local vigilantes in northeastern Moscow started a hunt for a serial attacker who is assaulting women in the area with a hammer, though police were divided as to whether they appreciate amateur help, reports said Monday.

Since Jan. 21, five women aged 40 to 60 were attacked at night in the area, known for its sprawling Losiny Ostrov park. All were hospitalized, and one of the victims, Margarita Shuina, died from her injuries.

The suspect, who took the women's bags and valuables, was caught on camera, but neither footage nor victims' accounts were of much use to investigators because the assailant approached the women from behind and kept his face hidden, Investigative Committee spokeswoman Viktoria Tsyplyonkova said Monday.

The victims “said they didn’t see the suspect since he was attacking from behind. It is not possible to recognize his face, since it is covered by a hat,” Tsyplyonkova said, Interfax reported.

Moscow's police chief Vladimir Kolokoltsev pledged in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio Monday that the “maniac acting in the city's northeast will be captured.”

Meanwhile, area residents have started a group named Patrol to search for the criminal and offer protection, mainly by escorting women home.

The group has identified several suspects, none of whom turned out to be an attacker. It claims to have prevented one attack, calling police after spotting a hammer-wielding man who chased a local teenager, though the suspect fled when officers arrived, Gazeta.ru reported Monday.

The group’s representative, Maria Dudko, told Gazeta.ru that the police appreciate help, but on Monday, several members of Patrol were briefly detained when distributing leaflets about the attack.

“We were told that we are disturbing police work by forcing the attacker to lay low or go to another district,” Patrol member Maria Makhankova told Interfax on Monday.

Moscow police spokeswoman Svetlana Serkina told Komsomolskaya Pravda on Saturday that the locals are “creating panic” by spreading their leaflets.

“They lack skills required to catch criminals. They will get themselves hurt and then blame police,” Serkina said.

Another police spokeswoman told RIA-Novosti on Monday that the criminal is not a psychotic attacker, but apparently a robber, judging by the fact that he was stealing belongings of the victims.

Regardless of the motives, locals are scared.

“I asked my relatives to meet me after work,” said Natalya, an employee with a local Mosmart store who refused to give her last name without elaborating on the reasons. She told The Moscow Times that she has to walk through the park on her way home.

“We are all nervous since we all live here,” an employee of one of the schools in the area said by telephone, without providing her name.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more