Minisode 05 – Bodies in the Woods: The Russian Dollmaker
Hey, everybody! Welcome to another Bodies minisode! Wanna learn about life-size dolls that turned out to be human bodies in disguise? Well, you’re in luck! On this episode, we’re talking about Anatoly Moskvin, better known as “The Russian Dollmaker.” Here we go!
TRIGGER WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS DISCUSSION ABOUT GRAVE DESECRATION AND DECEASED CHILDREN. DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
STOP! INSIDE JOKES AHEAD!
If you haven’t gotten to listen to the episode yet, spoiler alert! This post contains lots of stuff that will make waaay more sense if you listen to the episode before or while reading. So if you haven’t already, pump the brakes and listen to the episode or just click above to play so that you can be in on all the shenanigans to follow!
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Produced by Peter Woodward
The Road to Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions...
Anatoly Moskvin, better known as “The Russian Dollmaker”, thought he was doing the right thing. He intended to be a rescuer…a “savior” of sorts for lost little girls. While he knew he was disobeying the law, he felt his mission was more important than the law.
Allegedly. Maybe. That’s what he said.
Moskvin differs from our normal true crime subjects because he did not actually commit murder. However, he did commit some seriously sick acts: grave robbing and body desecration. All his victims were girls between the ages of 3 and 12.
So About This Guy...
Anatoly Moskvin was born in Gorkey, Soviet Russia on September 1, 1966. He liked to wander cemeteries as a kid, but it was a funeral that he said set off his lifelong obsession with dead girls.
As a child, he reportedly witnessed a funeral for an 11-year-old girl. He was forced at one point to kiss the dead girl’s face, and it left quite the impression on him. He developed a deep fascination with death, burial, and the occult.
- Moskvin never really dated, did not marry, and is reportedly a virgin. At the time of his arrest, he was still living with his parents. However, what he lacked socially, he made up for professionally.
- Moskvin was extremely intelligent and highly educated. A linguist, language historian, and expert in Celtic history and folklore, he was greatly respected and well-known in his field. His fellow academics described him as both a genius and an eccentric. He wrote several books, papers, and translations and actually speaks 13 languages!
- Moskvin was also something of a collector. He had a large doll collection and a vast library with over 60,000 books and documents.
What Did He Do?
He was arrested November 2, 2011 on suspicion of grave desecrations. Police searched the flat he shared with his parents. Numerous pieces of grave paraphernalia were found. They also found name plates, photos and videos of open graves and dug up bodies, and maps of cemeteries.
However, as weird as all that was, it was nothing compared to the life-size dolls that were posed around the flat. Imagine the surprise of the police when they discovered that these “dolls” were, in fact, the mummified bodies of 29 girls!
Apparently, Moskvin had been exhuming bodies from local cemeteries, mummifying them, then dressing and posing them around his home. Reportedly, some of the girls had music boxes shoved into their chests.
Police found a set of instructions for making “dolls” during their search as well. Moskvin had been making these “dolls” over the course of about 10 years. He was suspected of desecrating as many as 150 graves!
- Initially, he was criminally charged with desecration of graves and dead bodies, which carried up a five year prison sentence. However, while in custody, a psychiatric evaluation determined he was a paranoid schizophrenic. He was deemed unfit to stand trial and was released from criminal liability. The judge determined he required psychiatric care rather than prison.
- Moskvin was moved to a psychiatric clinic for treatment where he was observed over a period of three years. During this time, authorities confirmed that he was absolutely not mentally fit to stand trial and needed continued psychiatric care.
Why Did He Do That?
Moskvin felt compelled to help these girls. Between his fixation on death and his expertise in Celtic lore, he strongly felt they could be brought back to life, either by science or black magic. It was his conviction that he was the one who was supposed to make this happen.
- He would research children’s obituaries in his area. When he discovered a good candidate, he would go to the cemetery and sleep on their grave. This allowed him to determine if the child’s spirit wished to be brought back from the dead. Insisting he never dug up a grave without the permission of the child within, he did this for over 20 years!
- After researching mummification, Moskvin developed a sort of home mummification method. He preserved the bodies with a mixture of salt and baking soda, then dried them out. After drying, he wrapped the limbs in strips of cloth and stuffed the body cavities to help them keep their shape. Sometimes, he added wax masks decorated with nail polish over their faces.
- Moskvin stated he was always aware he was committing a crime, but he felt the girls were “calling out” to be rescued. He felt this was more important than obeying the law.
And Currently...
At the time of this post, Moskvin is 56 years old and still in psychiatric care. According to an article from April 2022, there has been discussion about him being released into the care of a relative because he is thought by some in authority to not be a threat to society.
- However, the parents of the victims strongly oppose his release, concerned Moskvin will resume what he did if freed. One particularly vocal parent is Natalia Chardymova, the mother of a little girl named Olga. Olga was one of the “dolls” found in Moskvin’s flat. Natalia consistently opposes Moskvin’s release, fearful that what happened to her family will happen to another if he is freed.
Of note, Moskvin has consistently refused to apologize to the families of the children he dug up. He maintains that he was only trying to help the girls when no one else would.
He stated in 2020 “These girls are girls. There are no parents in my view. I don’t know any of them. Besides, they buried their daughters, and this is where I believe their rights over them finished…So no, I would not apologize.” He also reportedly told the parents, “You abandoned your girls in the cold – and I brought them home and warmed them up.”
What else did we talk about?
Russian Nesting Doll...
Russian nesting dolls, also called Matryoshka dolls, have been around since 1890. Originally a childrens’ toy, the first ever set contained 8 dolls, with the largest being the mother and those inside being her children. Russian nesting dolls were extremely popular and have remained a favorite trinket over time.
More dolls...
Jeremy brought up a Japanese village in Shikoku, Japan with lots of dolls of their own. Apparently, citizens of Nagoro, Japan, have been slowly trickling out of the area for a number of years, and a local woman began making life-size dolls and placing them around town to combat loneliness. These photos show several of the dolls out in public. Look…that’s from Google Earth!
Yeah, I don’t know about that…
Spooky.
You're too real to be cute, but not real enough to be real, and you're giving me the creeps...
The guys mentioned the uncanny valley. If you are not familiar with this term, it describes the relation between an object’s resemblance to a human and the emotional response to that object. Basically, the closer something gets to looking human without actually being human, the more uncomfortable it makes a person. The Burger King mascot from a few years ago was a popular example. Also below is a robot that most definitely fits the bill. Basically, it’s a fancy term for a humanoid object’s creep factor.
Bleh. Yeah…g’bye.
Another one bites the dust! Thanks for joining us. We hope you were entertained and maybe even informed a bit. Please continue to join us for more adventures in the Strange Woods. Give us feedback and suggestions, stories and thoughts…all of it! We want it ALL!
Some key notes before you go AKA what did we learn:
1) no honey was used in the making of these mummies because then you’re just asking for ants,
2) if you have a smelly son with a large collection of dolls, maybe ask a few questions…maybe…just a thought…and,
3) if there is dead silence from your friend, don’t insert music boxes into their chests because they probably won’t appreciate that.
K-bye and as always, STAY STRANGE!
Some articles and sources:
Peter’s wife. Registered nurse. Uber-fan of The Strange Woods Podcast.
3 Replies to “Minisode 05 – Bodies in the Woods: The Russian Dollmaker”
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