Yuri Kirillovich Ustimenko (, ; born 23 April 1981) and Dmitry Medvedev (, ; May 1981 – 5 May 2002) were Russian serial killers operating in Estonia. They secretly arrived in Estonia over the Narva Reservoir in the autumn of 2001, after deserting a submarine school in St. Petersburg.
Both men murdered five people, but two of their victims managed to escape. Medvedev was killed by Latvian police in a firefight, but Ustimenko managed to escape. He was eventually captured in Poland for illegal border crossing and later identified by Interpol. He was extradited to Estonia, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Early lives Yuri Ustimenko Yuri Kirillovich Ustimenko was born on 23 April 1981 in the Leningrad Oblast, RSFSR, USSR, the younger of two brothers.Death Course His father abandoned the family in the early 1990s, leaving Ustimenko's mother to look after the children. Due to his skinny physique and short stature, Ustimenko was bullied by other students and became a social outcast, a problem further exacerbated by the fact that he verbally and physically abused by a relative, leading to him developing an inferiority complex.
During his free time, Ustimenko enjoyed reading books and poetry of various kinds, stating that among his favorites were Rafael Sabatini, Victor Hugo, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Vladimir Mayakovsky and others. He was also very well-read on the Stalinist Era and considered himself a patriot, with acquaintances claiming that he had a rhetorical gift that allowed him to convince others that he was always right.
Meeting Dmitry Medvedev and flight to Estonia After graduating school in 1999, Ustimenko moved to Saint Petersburg, where he enrolled into the prestigious Saint Petersburg Naval Institute, where he met and quickly befriended another student, Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev, who had recently been rejected by a girl, quickly grew attached to his new friend, following every suggestion and becoming heavily influenced by Ustimenko's viewpoints and character.
At around this time, a small organized criminal group formed among the cadets, led by a classmate of Ustimenko's named Andrey "Telepath" Telepin. From March to October 2001, Telepin's gang committed five murders with particular cruelty that caused a great public stir. While Ustimenko, Medvedev and another friend named Valentin Oleinikov were known to be closely associated and even knew about Telepin's crimes, no evidence indicated that they were personally involved.
In mid-2001, Ustimenko gave some money to Telepin after the latter suffered from financial difficulties. That same autumn, Telepin and his gang were put on a wanted list - shortly afterwards, Oleinikov deserted the Naval Institute, crossed the border into Estonia and settled in Sillamäe. A few days after his escape, Ustimenko and Medvedev followed suit - on 29 September, they left on leave, but instead of returning, they swam across the Estonian border via the Narva Reservoir. In order to cross, they utilized skills they had learned at the Naval Institute - they put on fins and masks, covered their bodies with black paint to be invisible in the water at night and carefully smeared their bodies with fat to prevent hypothermia. In the meantime, a criminal case was opened against both men for their desertion.
Later on, Ustimenko would claim that he and Medvedev initially planned to remain in the country until Telepin's trial concluded, and would eventually return to Russia and enroll back at the Naval Institute. However, he said that they gave up on the idea because Oleinikov convinced them both that they would endangered by the remainder of Telepin's gang. As such, the pair instead decided to move in with Oleinikov in Sillamäe, where they soon began to struggle financially due to the fact they were unable to find permanent work as illegal immigrants. For some time, they were supported by Oleinikov, but when he eventually started struggling as well, Ustimenko and Medvedev resorted to engaging in criminal activity.
In order to avoid getting caught, the duo always stuck together, traveled using only public transport and never used mobile phones.
Crimes On 18 March 2002, at 4:24 AM, a bomb exploded at the main door of a gun shop at Roosikrantsi 8 in Tallinn. After four minutes, another bomb blew up. The explosions injured two people, who were hit by glass. Witnesses saw two men running away from the event. Emergency workers who arrived at the site discovered a third, undetonated bomb, which was safely disposed of. Bomb defusal center manager Arno Pugonen thought that the bombs were meant to attack the Jagdwelt hunting supply store. Made by Predator was found written in black marker on the bomb. Subsequent to the arsenal of weapons taken from the store, five people were assassinated.
On 29 March, at around 21:00 PM, Ustimenko shot a 45-year-old taxi driver in the head on Filtri Road in Tallinn, killing him on the spot. He and Medvedev then stole 200 kroons and an old mobile phone. Two days later, on 31 March at 7:45 PM, the perpetrators entered a shop in Tartu, where Ustimenko used a shotgun to shoot the 51-year-old saleswoman, identified only by her first name "Galina", in the head. The criminals then stole around a thousand kroons from the cash register and fled.
In early April 2002, Ustimenko and Medvedev returned to Sillamäe, where they again asked Oleinikov for money, but this time, he refused and threatened to call the police if they ever showed up at his house again. The day afterwards, intent on eliminating all witnesses, the pair lured Oleinikov out of his house and shot him, with Ustimenko burying the body in the woods outside Sillamäe. Not long after Oleinikov's disappearance, the pair were contacted by 20-year-old Vassili Zudin, a friend of the former and a drug addict who knew that both men were wanted criminals and had illegally moved to Estonia - with this, he started blackmailing and extorting them for money, threatening to call the police if they didn't comply with his demands. Realizing that he posed a dangerous threat, on 7 April, Ustimenko and Medvedev lured Zudin to the outskirts of the city, where Ustimenko shot and killed him.
On 11 April, at 14:50 PM, the murderers struck again by attacking 22-year-old Reelika Radsalu, a saleswoman at a grocery store. After shooting her in the head, Ustimenko stole 700 kroons from the cash register and her mobile phone. Radsalu managed to crawl into a nearby store and alert the employees, who immediately called emergency services. Thanks to the early intervention, she survived her injuries. The police felt that the murders were merciless, as the first shot was usually shot in the wall or ceiling, while in these the sellers were immediately shot at. The police found a muffler with a stick made of sandwich paper, which had Made by Predator written on it. Forensic investigators found that a similar letter had been found at the Roosikrantsi explosion site and reported it to the Central Criminal Police, realising they were dealing with serial killers.
On 24 April, 24-year-old money broker Anatoli Bakhmatov was shot and killed while delivering proceeds to a fruit warehouse, with Ustimenko almost immediately afterwards shooting 36-year-old accountant Jelena Zujeva in the head. He and Medvedev then stole 50,000 kroons from the cash register. Despite her injuries, Zujeva survived and recovered from the sustained wounds. On 3 May, the criminals broke into the Küti Hunting Store in Tallinn, where they shot and killed 25-year-old store owner known only by his first name, "Indrek". A box of cartridges was then stolen from the establishment.
Suspected crimes In addition to these murders, Ustimenko remains a suspect in two more. Investigators claimed that of his former classmates from the Naval Institute - Ruslan Nukreev and Dmitry Zelinsky - also moved to Estonia illegally in April 2002, possibly aided by Ustimenko and Medvedev, but both then mysteriously vanished. Nukreev's body was found on the banks of the Narva River in late 2002 and was positively identified by his father, while Zelinsky was never found. It was suspected that Ustimenko and Medvedev planned to create a robbery gang with the two men, but for some reason had a disagreement resulting in both Nukreev and Zelinsky being shot to death. However, Ustimenko denied involvement, and was never charged with either of the two cases.
Medvedev's death and Ustimenko's capture Despite committing very heinous and high-profile crimes, Ustimenko and Medvedev did not exert any caution in their everyday lives and lived lavishly - visiting expensive stores and buying pricey clothing, traveling exclusively by taxi, and eating in high-class bars and restaurants. They also befriended various youths, on whom they generally made a favorable impression. However, local authorities soon noticed that the pair often carried large sums of money despite being supposedly unemployed, prompting them to investigate further. Based on witness statements, Estonian law enforcement agencies created identikits of the suspects in the "Predator" crimes, both of which matched Ustimenko and Medvedev. In order to prevent their possible escape, they also notified authorities from neighboring countries about the suspects.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to evade capture, the pair left Estonia on the early morning of 5 May 2002, crossing the border into Latvia via the border town of Valka. The pair were stopped by several border security guards, and while checking their documents, Ustimenko and Medvedev resisted and attempted to escape. In the ensuing struggle, Medvedev pulled put a gun and fatally shot Corporal Aigars Krupnieks, also wounding his companions, officers Ēriks Zanders and Sandris Jacino. Despite their injuries, both Zanders and Jacino returned fire, killing Medvedev with a shot to the head. In the meantime, Ustimenko successfully fled, leading to him being declared a most wanted fugitive across Latvia, Estonia and several other neighboring states, all of which organized a large-scale search involving helicopters and K-9 handlers, and the inspections of more than a thousand vehicles. In early May, Ustimenko was reportedly spotted crossing the border from Lithuania into Sejny, Poland, where suspicious residents saw him boarding a bus.
Arrest and location of Ustimenko's diary Ustimenko was arrested in the Polish city of Suwałki on 10 May 2002. Initially, he claimed that his name was Ilia Habarov, and that he was heading to France to join the French Foreign Legion. While inspecting his belongings, authorities found a 9mm Walther P99, leading to him being charged with illegal border crossing and carrying a weapon without a license. Not long after, Ustimenko was convicted of these charges and received a 7-month prison sentence.
In addition to this, authorities also found his personal diary, which contained detailed maps of Estonia and its capital, Tallinn, which were pasted across two pages of the diary. The city map had a large circle around Roozikrantsi Street, from where Ustimenko and Medvedev had stolen their weapons. On other pages, there were carefully pasted photographs of Ustimenko's favorite musical groups, among which were Nautilus Pompilius and Bi-2, whose songs featured in his favorite film, Brother 2.
In addition, the diary contained photographs of about 60 famous people from various historical periods, including Adolf Hitler, Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Vysotsky. Another set of photographs depicted the September 11 attacks, for which Ustimenko claimed to be in possession of because he had a hatred against America and Jews.
Aside from the photographs, the diary contained quotes from various famous people, including Georgy Zhukov, Honore de Balzac and Ernest Hemingway. Authorities also indicated there were attempts to link the diary's entries to the Telepin gang's crimes back in Russia, but no evidence of this was found.