Viktor Burakov

Viktor Burakov (born 30 May 1955) is a Ukrainian former sprinter who competed in the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Viktor Burakov is a Soviet forensic investigator best known for his leading role in the investigation and capture of serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. In the 1980s, Burakov led a special task force in Rostov-on-Don, formed to solve a series of brutal murders of women and children across Soviet Russia. Despite political pressure and institutional denial of the existence of serial killers in the USSR, Burakov was the first to propose and systematically investigate the case as the work of a serial offender.

Over the course of eight years, Burakov and his team examined thousands of suspects and forensic clues. In 1990, Andrei Chikatilo was arrested and eventually confessed to 56 murders. Although the formal interrogation was conducted by investigator Isa Kostoyev, Burakov remained the central figure in the case and supervised the entire forensic process. His efforts are detailed in the non-fiction book The Killer Department (1993) by journalist Robert Cullen, which offers an in-depth chronicle of the case.

Burakov was portrayed by actor Stephen Rea in the HBO film Citizen X (1995), which dramatizes the investigation.

Background and role in the case

In January 1983, Burakov, then a junior lieutenant in the forensics department, was invited to join the USSR's Department for Particularly Important Cases. His analytical skills in processing physical evidence—such as fingerprints and footprints—earned him a critical position in the newly formed team led by Major General Fetisov.

Fetisov assembled a task force of ten hand-picked investigators fully dedicated to stopping the murderer. Burakov eventually became the head of this team, often working under extreme psychological stress and political interference.

Initially, Burakov sought to include Western criminal profilers in the investigation. When denied permission, he worked with Soviet psychiatrist Dr. Aleksandr Bukhanovsky to compile one of the first offender profiles in Soviet history, which significantly narrowed the suspect pool.

In popular culture

• The Killer Department (1993) – non-fiction book by Robert Cullen.
• Citizen X (1995) – HBO film; Burakov is portrayed by Stephen Rea.

Sources

• Cullen, Robert. The Killer Department: Detective Viktor Burakov's Eight-Year Hunt for the Most Savage Serial Killer in Russian History. Pantheon Books, 1993. ISBN 0679421860.
• Citizen X. Directed by Chris Gerolmo, performances by Stephen Rea and Donald Sutherland, HBO Films, 1995.
• IMDb: Citizen X (1995)
• Bulgarian Wikipedia – Виктор Бураков