Teenager kills mother of three in random Russian village attack

Gornouralsky is a small village in Sverdlovsk Region, a satellite of Nizhny Tagil. Only 2,700 people live here, so the residents themselves admit: «Everyone knows everything about everyone.» That is why the tragedy that happened to 47-year-old Natalya Kiryanova was a shock to the locals.

Natalya was a mother of three: her eldest daughter is an adult, her son is deployed in the special military operation, and the youngest is still in school. She raised the children alone. According to relatives, her first husband died, then she had a partner, but they separated. She worked as an operator on a farm. Everyone who knew her describes her as quiet and very good-natured. On 6 January, she was at work and then stopped by a store to buy groceries for a Christmas dinner.

In the stairwell, the woman encountered a local troublemaker — 15-year-old Anton. It is unknown why he came to this building, but that chance meeting became fatal: the teenager stabbed Natalya in the stomach and fled. The victim managed to get to her apartment, where her relatives called an ambulance. She was immediately taken to the hospital and operated on, but they could not save her. The patient died on 12 January.

The suspected murderer was found quickly: he was placed under house arrest, but he removed his ankle bracelet and escaped. For five days, Anton was in hiding, and during that time, local residents were afraid to leave their homes. The schoolboy was detained five days into the search: he had gone to a friend«s birthday celebration.

Here is what is known about the accused, his victim, and the circumstances of the tragedy.

A troubled teen with a difficult past

Everyone in the village knows 15-year-old Anton; he is a notorious local troublemaker. They say he repeatedly got into fights and even slashed car tires. His family is described as dysfunctional.

The boy did poorly in school from the elementary grades and provoked conflicts with classmates. Anton«s mother died, his father remarried, and the teenager lived with his dad and stepmother. Meanwhile, his biological sister lives under the guardianship of relatives. The schoolgirl explained that she does not communicate with her brother.

«Neither the father nor his wife were interested in raising him. Both are drinkers, there were regular beatings in the family, and the boy even stood up for his stepmother when the father raised his hand. The child himself got failing grades and was held back a year. Last year, he was sent to a Chelyabinsk center for personality correction. His father officially transferred him to home schooling, but the boy also ran away from that center.

At the same time, Anton has clear leadership qualities; he led many kids astray, they started skipping school and drinking. Some boys, especially those a couple of years younger, hang on his every word. He had influence over those around him,« says a local resident who knows the family.

Even under house arrest, the guy was not downhearted, and friends visited him. The teenagers posted «stories» online. In a short video, one of the guys got a call. Then Anton asked him not to say where he was.

«You»re like a convict!« laughs another friend in the video, filming the accused with the bracelet on his leg.

Attacked a mentally disabled boy

It turned out that the attack on Natalya was not his first. Not long before, Anton and his friends beat up another boy. According to local residents, a special needs teenager was the victim of the thugs« actions then. The first time, in December 2025, he got away with bruises, and the second time, during the New Year holidays, he was hospitalized with fractures.

Immediately after his arrest in the murder case of Natalya, the accused showed no remorse for what had happened.

«He showed no signs of remorse, and he himself cannot explain the reason for the attack, did it thoughtlessly. He said that he felt bad, took a knife and went for a walk. In the stairwell, he met a woman, passed her on the stairs, then went back down and stabbed her in the stomach. After that, he just left. Moreover, at the time of the crime, he was sober,» a source from E1.RU reported.

Residents of Gornouralsky put forward several versions of what happened. According to one, the accused may have a mental illness that has not yet been diagnosed. According to another, the reason lay in another emergency — the beating of a mentally disabled teenager. Allegedly, a woman passing by at that time had scolded the troublemakers, and now Anton might have mistaken Natalya for that woman.

«There were many rumors in the village. Some thought Anton might have done it on a dare with friends. And there was another version that there was some sort of »stash« on the top floor, and he was afraid of being caught. This teenager was caught drinking many times, but nothing is known for sure about drugs, it»s more of an assumption,« local resident Elena told E1.RU.

While Anton was on the run, the village residents were afraid to go outside.

«Of course, it»s scary. You go to work — it«s dark, you come back from work — also dark. You see, a woman entered the stairwell and didn»t make it to her apartment! And there was no motive. We were afraid of running into him ourselves, and we were scared to send our children to school,« explained Gornouralsky resident Tatyana.

«A person with the kindest soul»

That is how friends and relatives describe the deceased Natalya. According to acquaintance Oksana, the woman was calm and friendly from her youth.

«She would never say a bad word to anyone. A gentle soul. She loved her children very much. At the same time, she was hardworking and still found time to help her elderly mother. All her children are also good,» noted the acquaintance. «In the hospital, the doctors fought for her life, and Natasha herself is a fighter: the day after the operation, she was transferred to a regular ward and regained consciousness. But, unfortunately, the injuries were incompatible with life, and she passed away on 12 January.»

The victim«s relative Nadezhda also calls Natalya responsive and sweet, saying that »there are very few people like her.«

«Our village is small, everyone knows each other. And everyone knew this troublemaker: bad news travels fast. That day, Natasha became a random victim; he didn»t care who he came across, he just killed,« said Nadezhda.

What the teenager faces

The Investigative Committee reported that the teenager has already been charged. A criminal case has been initiated under Part 1 of Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code (murder). The head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, instructed the head of the Sverdlovsk region Investigative Committee to report on the progress of the investigation.

Lawyer Sergey Kolosovsky explained to E1.RU that the teenager faces a maximum of ten years in prison under the murder article.

«In principle, our formal practice leans towards being more lenient in choosing preventive measures for minors. Moreover, an accusation does not guarantee guilt,» explained the lawyer. «It is unknown what evidence is in the case, how obvious the situation is. Nothing has been proven, so a preventive measure is chosen precisely when there are grounds to believe the person may flee. It»s another matter if the teenager has already run away from home, for example. Apparently, they approached it formally, as always. Where they shouldn«t, they arrest, and where they should, they don»t.«

Sergey Kolosovsky added that by law, minors are held separately from adults — in pre-trial detention centers there are special «juvenile» cells. If the court decides to change the preventive measure, the accused will be sent to a pre-trial detention center.

Which is exactly what happened. Given the escape, the court did not leave him at liberty during the investigation. He was sent to custody for one month and 16 days.

Note that earlier investigators reported that the charge was under the murder article, but in court the prosecutor clarified that the current charge is attempted murder.

Earlier we reported how the teenager was detained and what is known about this emergency.

We are collecting all news about the tragedy in a separate topic.