Igor Alexandrovich Mirenkov (28 May 1969 – 19 June 1996), known as The Svietlahorsk Nightmare, was a Soviet-

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

who killed six boys aged 9–13 between 1990 and 1993.

Biography

Igor Mirenkov was born on 28 May 1969 in the city of

Svietlahorsk Svyetlahorsk (, ) or Svetlogorsk (), previously known as Shatsilki until 1961, is a town in Gomel Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Svyetlahorsk District. It is situated on the Berezina River. In 2019, its population w ...

in the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...

, where he later lived out his life and committed all his crimes. After school, Mirenkov was called to serve in the

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

, where it was reported that he exhibited

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

tendencies and solicited his colleagues. The investigator in the Mirenkov case, Oleg Litoshko, later stated that perhaps the sailors had raped him, which later led to Mirenkov's deformed mentality. Returning to Svietlahorsk, Mirenkov got a job and bought a JAWA-brand motorcycle and began living a normal life. Mirenkov was absolutely imperceptible. Litoshko later said this:

Murder series

The first murder Mirenkov committed was on 2 June 1990. His victim was a 13-year-old boy who was walking in the woods whom he attacked,

raped Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person w ...

, and killed with his knife. On 16 April 1991, he killed a 10-year-old boy under similar circumstances. At first, nobody made a connection to the killings, but Mirenkov decided to temporarily hide. For the whole of 1992, he did not commit a single murder due to being sentenced to three years of

penal labour Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included in ...

for robbery. Since Mirenkov was a model prisoner, he was often given a three-day leave, when he would commit his murders. On 20 March 1993, Mirenkov committed a third murder, and on 30 March - a fourth. The city began to panic; the people started making claims of the " White Вrotherhood", out of fear that

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

or criminal gangs were kidnapping the children. During the summer of 1993, Mirenkov committed a further two murders; the victims' bodies were later found in a nearby forest in autumn. Parents took to the city of Svietlahorsk, organizing pickets of the district administration, and creating self-defence committees.

Arrest, investigation and trial

On 27 April 1994, Igor Mirenkov was arrested for stealing

petrol Gasoline (North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When formul ...

and

insurance fraud Insurance fraud is any intentional act committed to deceive or mislead an insurance company during the application or claims process, or the wrongful denial of a legitimate claim by an insurance company. It occurs when a claimant knowingly attem ...

. He pleaded guilty and was imprisoned. On 14 May 1994, he was summoned for

interrogation Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...

in the case of disappearances and murders of the children. He later confessed to six murders. The Belarusian authorities decided on unprecedented measures - the case was classified (and only declassified in 2007), and Mirenkov was put in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

in the city of

Rechytsa Rechytsa or Rechitsa (, ; ; ) is a town in Gomel Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Rechytsa District. The town is located on the Rechytsa River, which flows into the Dnieper. In 2020, its population was 66,400. As of ...

, and investigative experiments were conducted within the framework of increased security measures for the defendant. The investigation lasted for more than a year, and after the criminal case was transferred to the Gomel Regional Court, Igor Alexandrovich Mirenkov was

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

. On 19 June 1996, the verdict was carried out in the SIZO No. 1 Detention Unit in the city of

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirenkov, Igor 1969 births 1990 murders in Belarus 1991 murders in Belarus 1993 murders in Belarus 1996 deaths Belarusian people convicted of murder Executed Belarusian serial killers Executed Soviet serial killers Soviet LGBTQ people Belarusian gay men People convicted of child sexual abuse People convicted of murder by Belarus People from Svyetlahorsk district People executed by Belarus by firearm Soviet rapists Violence against men in Europe 20th-century Belarusian LGBTQ people 20th-century Belarusian people

Biography

Murder series

Arrest, investigation and trial

See also

References