Dmytro Kulishov

Dmytro Ilyich Kulishov (, ; born 1975), known as The Troieschyna Maniac , is a Ukrainian serial killer responsible a 2019 stabbing spree in which he attacked four men, fatally injuring one. The case garnered notoriety due to the fact that he had recently been released from a mental hospital, where Kulishov had been interned for a similar crime spree in 2007, where he killed two people and injured ten others.

After his second internment, Ukrainian authorities ordered an investigation into the doctors who approved Kulishov's release, and a review of the country's guidelines for treatment of violent psychiatric patients was ordered.

Early life Dmytro Kulishov was born in Kyiv in 1975, the only child of a couple highly involved in the arts. The young boy became drawn to ballet at an early age due to his mother, Lyubov, who worked as a choreographer. Aside from this, Kulishov also had a pronounced interest in photography and drawing.

After graduating from school in the early 1990s, Kulishov enrolled at the Kyiv State Choreographic College, which he successfully completed. Upon graduation, he was accepted as a ballet dancer in the National Opera's official troupe, but due a lack of unique talent, he was unable to start his own career.

Around the mid-2000s, Kulishov quit working in the Opera and instead started working as a security guard for a high-ranking official based in Kyiv. He got married at around this time and had a daughter, but his marriage ended quickly after he started his first crime spree, and he later took no part in raising his child. He then took off his shirt, twisted it into a noose, approached another sleeping prisoner, and strangled him. When the victim showed no signs of life, Kulishov returned to his bed, put the handcuffs back on, and fell asleep.

2019 crimes Mere months after his release, Kulishov started a new crime spree that lasted from September to October 2019, all of which took place in the Vyhurivshchyna-Troieshchyna neighborhood.

The first attack took place in early September, when Kulishov stabbed a 26-year-old man several times. The victim was hospitalized, and suffered cuts to his shoulder and collarbone. A few days later, Kulishov attacked a 22-year-old man on Raduzhnaya Street, inflicting a serious wound on the victim's neck. Two days after that, he attacked a 56-year-old man, who also survived the assault. Rumors on social media claimed that the so-called "Troieschyna Maniac" had committed about 10 murders, and any incident involving elderly men was attributed to the unknown perpetrator. A facial composite of the suspect was developed from survivors' testimony, which was later found to closely resemble Kulishov. Aside from the Kyiv police force, concerned residents of the affected areas also formed patrol groups in an attempt to catch the killer themselves.

During this period, he underwent a second forensic psychiatric examination, which concluded that he suffered from a severe form of schizophrenia that made him incapable of understanding the gravity of his actions. As a result, in early 2020, Kulishov was acquitted by reason of insanity and interned at the psychiatric clinic in Hlevakha, where he is undergoing intensive treatment.

Criminal proceedings against medical personnel The medical commission's sudden and unexplained decision to release Kulishov came under heavy scrutiny after his arrest, leading for calls from public officials like lawyer Andriy Irklienko for the doctors who allowed it to be charged and for the evaluation system for patients to be reworked.

Nadezhda Maksimets, spokesperson for the Kyiv Prosecutor's Office, later released a statement in which she said that the clinic's documentation would be seized and examined as part of criminal proceedings.