Answer
Beginning in 1978, Andrei Chikatilo, a notorious serial killer known as the "Butcher of Rostov," embarked on a horrifying spree of murders that claimed the lives of at least 52 people, primarily young women and children. Operating across various regions of the former Soviet Union, he lured victims to secluded areas, brutally assaulted and murdered them, often engaging in acts of cannibalism and necrophilia.