Mikhail Malyshev

Mikhail Yuryevich Malyshev (; 31 October 1965 – 19 December 2025), known as the Perm Cannibal , was a Russian murderer, cannibal and possible serial killer who was convicted of murdering, dismembering and eating the remains of two acquaintances in the city of Perm between 1997 and 1998. He was also suspected of six similar murders for which he was never charged. Malyshev was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment but was released in 2022, and later lived in Perm.

Early life Mikhail Yuryevich Malyshev was born on 31 October 1965, in the city of Perm, which was then the administrative centre of Perm Oblast in the Russian SFSR (now the Russian federal subject of Perm Krai). Malyshev was raised in an affluent and well-respected family; some sources claim that his mother worked as a schoolteacher, while others say that she worked as a high-ranking engineer at a nuclear power plant. As a child, Malyshev attended violin classes but was forced to abandon this pursuit after sustaining an injury to his arm.

Following his parents' divorce in the late 1970s, Malyshev's mother remarried and had a daughter with her new husband in 1983. The divorce greatly affected Malyshev emotionally and mentally, further distancing him from peers who had already bullied him for being overweight. This led to Malyshev being highly stressed and frequently angry, often resorting to killing stray cats and dogs to vent his frustrations. In 1980, Malyshev was arrested on charges of cruelty against animals and interned at a juvenile detention centre, where he started exercising and attended boxing classes.

It is unclear what professions Malyshev held during this period – one source claims that he worked at the "Sorbent" nuclear plant, while others claim that he worked as a welder or carpenter. He led a secluded life and was never married. Malyshev was fond of reading and weightlifting, but despite this, he held a reputation as an anti-social man who enjoyed killing stray dogs.

After Malyshev stopped abusing the girl, Suvorova threatened to call the police. Upon hearing this, Malyshev grabbed an axe and bludgeoned her to death. With Borovik and Nikolai's help, he then dismembered her body and made minced meat out of her flesh, with which he later used to prepare pelmeni and cutlets. As Malyshev was already notorious for killing animals, he was immediately considered the prime suspect. A few weeks after the murder, police officers were sent to the apartment. During the subsequent search, they found packages containing human remains, as well as over 600 kilograms of meat of unknown origin, after which Malyshev was immediately arrested. At the said colony, he was placed in a 200-bed unit and worked as a food handler, a prestigious position that allowed him unlimited access to food. As a result, Malyshev quickly gained weight, and while he participated in boxing competitions, he did not achieve any outstanding results.

Throughout his time in prison, Malyshev was treated as an outcast by other inmates, but was otherwise not bullied in any way and left to his own devices. In 2005, journalists visited him for an interview, during which he claimed that he was remorseful and currently attempting to better himself physically and spiritually. As he was not popular with the prison staff, Malyshev was constantly disciplined for being unkempt and keeping spoiled food in his cell, due to which his mental health deteriorated sharply and he contracted a number of neurological diseases, even developing a stutter. After serving 23 years in prison, Malyshev was released in October 2022 and returned to his apartment on Marshal Rybalko Street. His release caused great outrage from the public, thanks to which his life and crimes received renewed attention from the Russian media.

In media and culture Malyshev's crimes were covered on an episode of Frank Confessions (Russian: Чистосердечное признание) in 2005.