Vadim the Bloodsucker — The Russian Jack the Ripper

This is the story of one of Russia’s first known serial killers: Nikolay Radkevich

There’s a surprising lack of English-language information on this guy. This is great for my SEO in the United States but I spent so much time using my VPN on a Ukrainian server researching this case that I’m probably flagged by the FBI.

I don’t think “I was researching a serial killer” makes my case very well either.

I couldn’t get to a Russian server, so I chose Ukraine. This research method worked well for my Elizabeth Bathory article, and again, it didn’t disappoint and I found two Russian language documentaries.

It’s been a long week for me. I just got a job at a hotel and this is the first time I’ve ever worked third shift (so from 11 PM-7AM), so while I have a lot of down time to research, I’ve been quite sleepy. So bear with the infrequent posting schedule. I did promise a part 3 to the Winnie Ruth Judd case to supporters this week, but I’m nudging it to next week.

This case is an interesting one because of the time it took place in. This is during the time of civil unrest in Imperial Russia. When people were starting to discuss a revolution against the Tsar.

The First Victim

It was July 1, 1909 in St. Petersburg when a passerby noticed something in the Neva River. Curious, they looked, and were horrified to find the…