Serhiy Steblyakov (; born 1983), known as The Old Lady Strangler (), is a Ukrainian serial killer who, together with accomplices Azamat and Robert Kardanov, robbed and killed five people in Moscow from March to May 2010. Considered the ringleader of the trio, Steblyakov was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, while the Kardanovs received lesser sentences after pleading guilty. Early life Little is known about Steblyakov's life. Born in 1983 in the Ukrainian SSR, he purportedly grew up without a father and was raised solely by his mother. By the late 2000s, he was married, and would subsequently move to Russia as a guest worker, finding employment in the construction industry. Meeting the Kardanovs Brothers Azamat and Robert Kardanov were both born in Stavropol Krai, in 1984 and 1985, respectively. Having grown up without a father, their mother moved them to the village of Belokamennoye in Kabardino-Balkaria, where they would spend their childhood and youth. Due to the fact their mother had a mental illness and was unable to have steady employment, the Kardanovs relied on hand-outs from charitable strangers and were left to do whatever they wanted, spending most of their time on the streets. In December 2006, Azamat enlisted in the Russian Armed Forces after he was deemed fit for service, but deserted shortly afterwards. He himself would later claim that he briefly served as a mercenary in the Second Chechen War, but deserted yet again and finally settled in Kovrov, Vladimir Oblast, where he married a local woman and had a child with her. An indeterminate amount of time later, Azamat would reunite with his brother and both would travel to Moscow to seek work in the construction business, where they would befriend Steblyakov. Bonded by their shared discontent with their low wages, Steblyakov suggested that they could earn money by robbing people, to which the two brothers agreed. Crimes Modus operandi As victims, the trio would usually target elderly female veterans, as they had easy access to their apartments, had trouble fighting back due to old age and received fairly generous pensions. However, they would also attack men, mostly targeting wealthy gay men on the behest of Steblyakov, who claimed that he did not consider them human. Murders The first murder occurred on March 21, 2010, when Steblyakov and the Kardanovs broke into the apartment of 85-year-old WWII veteran Nina Chasovaya on 35 Kakhovka Street.