What happened
Irina Gaidamachuk targeted elderly women in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region, entering homes under false pretenses and killing victims during robberies.
The investigation
For years investigators reportedly assumed the offender was male. The pattern shifted when a surviving victim and accumulated evidence helped police identify Gaidamachuk.
What the courts or investigators concluded
She was convicted in 2012 of 17 murders and one attempted murder and received a 20-year sentence, the maximum term available to a woman under the applicable Russian sentencing rules at the time.
Why the case remains significant
The case drew attention to investigative assumptions about offender gender and to the vulnerability of elderly people targeted inside their homes.
Case context
Crime by Region organizes cases geographically so readers can move from one file to other investigations from the same country. For unresolved or contested cases, the wording above reflects the distinction between confirmed events, investigative theories and findings actually established in court.