A notorious Russian serial killer, who raped and murdered at least 52 people, even ate parts of some of his victims in one of the most chilling cases of the last century.

Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo, also known as the Red Ripper among many other monikers, is considered one of the most prolific serial killers in history.

His terrifying crimes included rape, murder, mutilation and cannibalism, spanning from 1978 until his arrest in 1990.

An investigation into the twisted murderer was even obstructed by the Soviet Union, under the belief that serial killings were inconceivable in a Communist society.

This mindset led to his initial arrest and subsequent release, which facilitated further horrific murders.

After his second arrest, the Rostov Ripper confessed to the killing of 576 women and children. In 1992, he was tried for 53 murders and found guilty of 52 of them.

Chikatilo was born in 1936 with hydrocephalus – or water on the brain – a condition that left him physically weak, tormented by embarrassing bed-wetting well into his teens, and burdened with a lifelong struggle in the bedroom, reports the Mirror.

His father was a soldier captured during World War II, who returned home labelled a “coward”.

Consequently, Chikatilo became an easy target at school – ridiculed, bullied and isolated.

At just 15-years-old, the future killer’s twisted desires erupted into reality as he allegedly attacked a young girl, climaxing instantly in a humiliating act that would define the rest of his life.

The mockery that followed only intensified his warped psyche and created a lethal connection between sex and violence which would subsequently claim dozens of innocent lives.

In 1971, Chikatilo was appointed as a teacher in the mining city of Novoshakhtinsk in Rostov.

In his various teaching roles, he savagely sexually assaulted children of both sexes. The first documented victim was nine year old Lena Zakotnova.

The depraved teacher enticed her into an abandoned shed, where he attempted to rape her and, during the struggle, he reportedly slashed Lena with a knife and ejaculated simultaneously.

Despite being spotted with Lena before her disappearance, Chikatilo’s wife provided him with an alibi, resulting in another person being arrested for the appalling crime.

Still a free man, he continued in his teaching role until mounting accusations of inappropriate conduct damaged his reputation.

By 1981, he lost his job in education and secured other employment as a factory clerk, which gave him access to several more potential victims.

Chikatilo’s second confirmed victim was 17-year-old Larisa Tkachenko, whom he strangled and stabbed to death.

Throughout this barbaric assault, the depraved murderer crammed soil and foliage into her mouth to silence her cries. Following Larisa’s killing, Chikatilo established a horrifying method of targeting vulnerable young drifters and runaways.

The horrific nature of his crimes sent tremors through the Soviet Union as it was revealed he would lure helpless children into forests before brutally mutilating their private parts with a blade.

It is thought he would remove his victims’ intimate organs and consume them.

In some instances, he cut off facial parts, including noses and tongues. His youngest victim was Igor Gudkov, merely eight, who perished in Aviators’ Park in Rostov on 9 August 1983.

His oldest victim was Lyubov Zuyeva, 31, who died on 4 April 1990.

The father-of-two was sentenced to death for his monstrous acts and was executed by a single gunshot to the back of the head on 14 February 1994, at the age of 47. His remains were interred in an unmarked grave within the prison cemetery.