Russian Interior MinistryAnatoly Moskvins mugshot from 2011.Anatoly Moskvin loved history.He spoke 13 languages, traveled extensively, taught at the college level, and was a well-known local historian in Nizhny Novgorod, Russias fifth-largest city. Moskvin was also a necropolist, or expert on cemeteries.But Moskvin eventually took his expertise to an incredibly disturbing new level. In 2011, he was arrested after the bodies of 29 girls and young women were found mummified in his apartment. As it turned out, Moskvin had stolen the bodies from local graves, preserved the remains using a homemade solution, and decorated them to look like life-size dolls.How Anatoly Moskvin Developed An Unhealthy Obsession With The DeadBorn in 1966, Anatoly Moskvin would go on to become the ultimate expert on cemeteries in his city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Moskvin once attributed his obsession with the macabre to a 1979 incident that happened when he was 13 years old. He shared this story in Necrologies, a weekly publication in Russia that focused on cemeteries and obituaries.Moskvin regularly contributed to the publication, and in his last article, dated Oct. 26, 2011, he divulged how a group of men in black suits had stopped him on the way home from school. They were allegedly on their way to the funeral of 11-year-old Natasha Petrova and dragged young Anatoly along to her coffin, where they forced him to kiss the deceased girl.East 2 West NewsOne of the many female corpses discovered in Moskvins home.Anatoly Moskvin wrote, I kissed her once, then again, then again. The girls grieving mother purportedly put a wedding ring on Anatolys finger and a wedding ring on her dead daughters finger as well.My strange marriage with Natasha Petrova was useful, Moskvin wrote in the article. Strange, indeed. He said it led to a belief in magic and a fascination with the dead. Whether the story is even true is beside the point by now, as his disturbing thoughts would clearly go unchecked for decades.A Growing Interest In Cemeteries, Burials, And The MacabreAnatoly Moskvins obsession with the corpse-kissing incident apparently never abated. He began to wander through cemeteries as a schoolboy. East 2 West NewsAnatoly Moskvin, pictured after his arrest.His macabre interests eventually informed his studies. Moskvin earned an advanced degree in Celtic studies, a culture in which the mythology often blurs the lines between life and death. The historian also became fluent in some 13 languages and saw his scholarly work published many times.Meanwhile, Moskvin roamed from cemetery to cemetery. I dont think anyone in the city knows them better than I do, he said of his extensive knowledge of the regions gravesites. From 2005 to 2007, Moskvin claimed to have visited 752 cemeteries across the region surrounding Nizhny Novgorod.He took detailed notes on each one, even delving into the histories of those buried there. Moskvin claimed to have walked up to 20 miles per day to reach and explore the gravesites, sometimes sleeping on hay bales and drinking rainwater from puddles during his journeys to the cemeteries. He created in-depth reports on his travels and discoveries, with titles like What the Dead Said and Great Walks Around Cemeteries.He even said he spent one night sleeping in a coffin ahead of a deceased persons funeral. But as it would turn out, Anatoly Moskvins observations about cemeteries and burials were more than just observations.The Mass Desecration Of Graves In And Around Nizhny NovgorodIn 2009, many locals in and around Nizhny Novgorod discovered the graves of their loved ones desecrated. In some cases, they were completely dug up. Russian Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Valery Gribakin told CNN: Our leading theory was that it was done by some extremist organizations. We decided to beef up our police units and set up groups composed of our most experienced detectives who specialize in extremist crimes. /YouTubeMoskvins parents reportedly believed the female corpses in their home were just toys.But for nearly two years, the Russian Interior Ministrys leads went nowhere. Graves continued to be vandalized, and no one knew why.Its somewhat unclear exactly how Anatoly Moskvin was caught in 2011, with some sources reporting that police grew suspicious after they questioned the cemetery expert about recent grave desecrations and other sources claiming that authorities caught him carrying a bag of bones. What is clear is that the police quickly went to Moskvins apartment to investigate. What they found there was shocking, to say the least. The Discovery Of Anatoly Moskvins Horrific Doll CollectionAnatoly Moskvin, who was 45 years old when he was arrested, lived with his parents in a small apartment. As authorities investigated the home, they soon found numerous life-sized, doll-like figures.Many of the figures resembled vintage or antique dolls, but they were all wearing different types of clothing. Some wore knee-length boots, while others donned frilly dresses. Some had makeup on their faces.Police soon realized that these large dolls were not dolls at all they were the mummified corpses of human girls and young women.When authorities moved one of the bodies, they were shocked to hear it played music, as if on cue. It was later learned that Moskvin had embedded music boxes and toys so theyd make noise when he touched them. Elsewhere in the apartment, there were plaques that he had taken off of the victims gravestones, doll-making manuals, and maps of local cemeteries.Crucially, there were also shoes in the apartment that were a match to footprints found near many of the desecrated graves.East 2 West NewsMoskvins parents were present at his hearing.Inside the mummies, investigators found a variety of disturbing items. One mummy even had a piece of her own gravestone stuffed inside her body. Another one contained a hospital tag with the date and the cause of the girls death. A dried human heart was found inside a third body.Anatoly Moskvin later admitted that he would stuff the decayed corpses with rags, presumably to ensure they kept their original shape. Then, he would wrap nylon tights around their faces or place fashion doll faces onto them. He would also sometimes insert buttons or toy eyes into the girls eye sockets so that they could watch cartoons with him.Moskvin was allegedly motivated to rob the graves and desecrate the bodies because he was lonely and desperately wanted a daughter, but he had been rejected after he tried to adopt a girl due to his low income. He denied being attracted to his dolls and claimed that he considered them his children.He also claimed that he was hoping science would eventually be able to bring the girls and women back to life. In the meantime, he used a solution with salt and baking soda to preserve the corpses as best as he could.As for Anatoly Moskvins parents, who lived with their son, they claimed to know nothing of the true origin of Moskvins doll collection.East 2 West NewsAnatoly Moskvins parents.Elvira, Moskvins then-76-year-old mom, said, We saw these dolls but we did not suspect there were dead bodies inside. We thought it was his hobby to make such big dolls and did not see anything wrong with it.Anatoly Moskvins Dark Hobby Shocked Those Who Knew HimIn all, authorities discovered 29 life-size dolls in Anatoly Moskvins apartment. They ranged in age from three to 25. Shockingly, he had reportedly kept one corpse as long as nine years. Moskvin was charged with desecrating both the bodies and the graves. As the horrific news spread in the media, he became known as The Lord of the Mummies and Perfumer (inspired by the Patrick Sskind novel Perfume).East 2 West NewsMoskvin walking with his attorney Dmitry Repkin.Neighbors were shocked. They said that the renowned historian was quiet and that Moskvins parents seemed to be nice people. Sure, their apartment smelled bad sometimes, but neighbors excused it by thinking it was the stink of something that rots in the basements of many local buildings.Moskvins editor at Necrologies, Alexei Yesin, didnt think much of his writers eccentricities and quirks. Yesin certainly never thought that Moskvin would collect and mummify young women and girls.Perhaps most shocking, Moskvin confessed his horrific crimes in court and refused to apologize to the girls parents. Instead, he said, You abandoned your girls, I brought them home and warmed them up.Will Anatoly Moskvin Ever Go Free?Not long after his arrest, Anatoly Moskvin was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and declared unfit to stand trial for his crimes. Instead, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital for mental health treatment.In 2018, it was reported that some psychiatrists at the hospital had recommended his release, claiming that it was safe for him to live at home with his parents and continue his treatment from there.These reports outraged the families of victims he desecrated.Natalia Chardymova, the mother of Moskvins victim Olga, firmly believes that Moskvin should stay locked up for the rest of his life.Police PhotosA photo of one of Moskvins victims and her mummified corpse.I shudder to think that he will have freedom to go where he wants, Chardymova said. Neither my family nor the families of the other victims will be able to sleep peacefully. He needs to be kept under surveillance.Prosecutors ultimately agreed with Chardymovas assessment, ensuring that Moskvin would remain in the hospital for the foreseeable future.Since then, some reports have stated that Moskvin continues to improve with regular treatment, and some of his psychiatrists as well as his lawyers have continued to push for his freedom and outpatient care.As of October 2025, Moskvin remains in the hospital, but theres no guarantee that hell stay there for the rest of his days. Chillingly, he allegedly told authorities at one point not to rebury the girls too deeply because I will gather them again when I am free.After reading about Anatoly Moskvin, learn about Carl Tanzler, the Key West doctor who fell in love with a tuberculosis patient and then kept her corpse after she died from her disease. Then, go inside the case of Sada Abe, the Japanese geisha who killed her lover then kept his penis.The post The Crimes Of Anatoly Moskvin, The Grave Robber Who Stole Female Corpses And Dressed Them Up Like Dolls appeared first on All That's Interesting.