--- title: Russia: 'Cannibal Couple' May Have Killed up to 30 People description: Police in southwestern Russia have arrested a couple accused of sedating, skinning alive and eating parts of as many as 30 people canonical: https://time.com/4958639/russia-cannibalist-couple-krasnador/ author: Kevin Lui article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-27T07:11:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:36:49.436Z article:section: World og:title: 'Cannibal Couple' in Russia May Have Killed up to 30 People og:description: Investigators say they may have sedated, skinned alive and eaten the victims og:url: https://time.com/4958639/russia-cannibalist-couple-krasnador/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb14e8d35545a376e/6988df94096a94444a69fc30/gettyimages-852122274.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Seven killed in car accident in Kaliningrad Region, Russia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Cannibal Couple' in Russia May Have Killed up to 30 People twitter:description: Investigators say they may have sedated, skinned alive and eaten the victims twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb14e8d35545a376e/6988df94096a94444a69fc30/gettyimages-852122274.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Russian 'Cannibal Couple' May Have Eaten up to 30 People, Investigators Say by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Sep 27, 2017 7:11 AM CUT  Police officers seen at the site of a crash of an off-roader and a minibus on the A229 (Kaliningrad Chernyakhovsk Nesterov) motorway near the village of Soldatovo; 7 people have been killed in the accident. Police officers seen at the site of a crash of an off-roader and a minibus on the A229 (Kaliningrad Chernyakhovsk Nesterov) motorway near the village of Soldatovo; 7 people have been killed in the accident.Vitaly Nevar—Vitaly Nevar/TASS by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Sep 27, 2017 7:11 AM CUT Police in southwestern Russia have arrested a couple accused of sedating, skinning alive and eating parts of as many as 30 people, while preserving their remains in saline. The _Washington Post_ [reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/09/26/russian-cannibal-couple-may-have-drugged-killed-and-eaten-as-many-as-30-people-police-say/?tid=pm%5Fpop&utm%5Fterm=.2bffca83406d "undefined") that the pair may have also tried to slip “canned human meat” into the food they prepared at their workplace — a military academy in the city of Krasnador, about five hours away from [Sochi](http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1992911,00.html "undefined"). The investigation was reportedly triggered on Sept. 11 after road work crews discovered a stray cell phone and looked at its photo gallery. Images of a man “with different parts of a dismembered human body in his mouth” sent them straight to the authorities, the _Post_ said citing a statement from Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. Natalia Baksheeva and her husband, 35-year-old Dmitry Baksheev, are now under arrest, with Baksheev currently facing one charge of murder as the investigation continues. Citing local media, the BBC [reports](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41396831 "undefined") that they admitted to having killed as many as 30 people. If confirmed, the couple would become one of Russia’s worst [serial killers](http://ideas.time.com/2012/07/24/the-overwhelming-maleness-of-mass-homicide/ "undefined") on record, reports the _Post_. **Read more:** [_Why Did Cannibals Eat Other People?_ ](http://time.com/4728703/cannibalism-calories/ "undefined") Police say the pair could be responsible for dozens of deaths or disappearances spanning almost two decades, according to the _Post_. A police search of their home reportedly turned up one photograph dated Dec. 28, 1999, depicting a human head on a plate with fruits. Investigators said that they also found “food fragments and frozen meat pieces of unknown origin” in the kitchen, as well as jars containing human parts in saline solution, the BBC reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4958639/russia-cannibalist-couple-krasnador/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4958639/russia-cannibalist-couple-krasnador/"},"headline":"A Russian 'Cannibal Couple' May Have Eaten up to 30 People, Investigators Say","datePublished":"2017-09-27T07:11:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:36:49.436Z","description":"Investigators say they may have sedated, skinned alive and eaten the victims","url":"https://time.com/4958639/russia-cannibalist-couple-krasnador/","keywords":["russia","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb14e8d35545a376e/6988df94096a94444a69fc30/gettyimages-852122274.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb14e8d35545a376e/6988df94096a94444a69fc30/gettyimages-852122274.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Seven killed in car accident in Kaliningrad Region, Russia","caption":"Seven killed in car accident in Kaliningrad Region, Russia","creditText":"Vitaly Nevar—Vitaly Nevar/TASS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4958639/russia-cannibalist-couple-krasnador/","name":"A Russian 'Cannibal Couple' May Have Eaten up to 30 People, Investigators Say"}}]}] ```