Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo was born in the small town of Yabluchne on October 16, 1936. This settlement is located in the Sumy Oblast region of Ukraine's northeast, which was then known as Soviet Ukraine. The Ukrainian SSR was in the grip of starvation, and World War II erupted only a few years after he was born. Between 1941 and 1944, Ukraine was occupied by the Nazis, and he grew up witnessing severe bloodshed as a result. ¹⁾

His birth circumstances were really deplorable. Under the Stalin regime, his family was forced to farm collectively in a one-room hut. This means they could barely feed themselves while working all day. When the Soviet Union became involved in World War II, his father Roman was drafted into the Red Army. Things went poorly from there since his mother, Anna, was unable to care for her children. One of the most fascinating facts about Andrei Chikatilo is that he claimed to have eaten bread for the first time when he was 12 years old. This obviously shows that chronic hunger was a part of his existence as a child. ²⁾

Andrei Chikatilo was an exceedingly shy kid who was constantly bullied because he was physically weak. He was withdrawn and solely concerned with his schoolwork. He wasn't the brightest student, but through hard work and determination, he graduated with honors in 1954, the only student from a farming family to do so. His ultimate ambition was to enroll in Moscow State University, but his grades were too low to be approved. Instead, he enrolled at a trade college and earned a degree. ³⁾

He chose to study Russian literature and philology at the University of Rostov, where he graduated in 1970. Soon after, he landed a position as a teacher and began committing his first crimes. Between 1973 and 1981, he worked as a teacher for eight years before being forced to resign due to multiple reports of child molestation. Surprisingly, he was never jailed throughout this time and was able to simply find another job after being fired as a teacher.⁴⁾