Artur Ryno was born in 1989 in Russia and grew up in Moscow during a time of rising nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Little is publicly documented about his early family life, but by his teenage years, Ryno had already become deeply embedded in racist ideologies and the neo-Nazi subculture that flourished among some Russian youth.

He formed a gang named Ryno-Skachevsky group, which he co-led with Pavel Skachevsky in which both offline and through online forums, hate-filled propaganda against migrants and non-Slavic ethnicities was widely shared.

The Ryno-Skachevsky gang began its killing spree in 2006, operating across the city of Moscow, targeting individuals of non-Russian ethnicity, particularly those with roots in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and other parts of Central Asia and the Caucasus.

The gang primarily targeted migrant workers, street vendors, and random pedestrians based on their appearance. Victims were selected at random, often ambushed in parks, apartment courtyards, or metro stations. Their method was brutal: sudden ambushes using knives, bats, and fists. Most attacks were unprovoked and random, designed only to kill. The gang filmed several of these murders, proudly sharing them online as extremist propaganda.

One of their last known victims was Karen Abramian, an Armenian businessman who was stabbed to death outside his home in April 2007. His murder led to Ryno’s arrest. Police investigations soon uncovered a disturbing catalog of other victims, some of whom had been killed weeks or months prior with no apparent suspects.

Ryno confessed to killing 37 people, though only 19 murders were verified by prosecutors through physical evidence and witness testimony. Due to his age (under 18 at the time of the crimes), Russian law prevented a life sentence. Instead, in 2008, Ryno was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor, the maximum for a juvenile offender.

His sentencing sparked outrage across Russia, especially among migrant communities, who felt the punishment did not match the severity of the crimes. In 2009, the UK government banned him from entering the country.

As of today, no official confirmation exists about whether Ryno has been released, rearrested, or deported to another facility post-2017.