Russia’s so-called “sexiest hitman” has married for the fourth time while serving a 23-year sentence for a series of gangland murders.
Alexei Sherstobitov, 59, known by the nickname “Lyosha the Soldier”, married former Putin-era civil servant Yulia Gvozdetskaya, 48, at the high-security prison where he is held in Russia’s Lipetsk region.
The “handsome assassin” became a cult figure among Russian women and was once regarded as one of Moscow’s most notorious executioners during the city’s violent underworld wars.
The contract killer, who was known for using elaborate disguises, has found love again behind bars with only three years remaining before his scheduled release.
His new bride, a mother of two, previously worked as a senior specialist in Russia’s state pension system and is now employed by a major construction company in Moscow.
Russian media reports that she owns an apartment in the capital valued at about £200,000 and drives a Chinese-made Chery Tiggo SUV.
A woman with the same name was previously fined for possessing an illegally modified air rifle capable of firing projectiles with increased force.
Sherstobitov served as the trusted “in-house assassin” for the notorious Orekhovo-Medvedkovo mafia empire during Russia’s bloody gang wars in the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Russia’s notorious contract killer Alexei Sherstobitov, 59, has married again behind bars. He is serving a 23-year sentence for 12 murders and attempted murders
His new bride is former civil servant and mother of two Yulia Gvozdetskaya, 48 (pictured)
Among his alleged victims was powerful underworld boss Otari Kvantrishvili, 46, who was photographed alongside then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin before being shot dead in Moscow in April 1994.
Another victim was Grigory Gusyatinsky, a former KGB officer who became a gangland leader before being murdered in 1995.
Reports say Sherstobitov was also hired to kill billionaire and Kremlin power broker Boris Berezovsky using a Tigr sniper rifle, but was ordered to abandon the plan at the last moment.
Berezovsky, who later became a determined opponent of Vladimir Putin, died in exile in England in circumstances that remain unexplained.
Sherstobitov’s success reportedly depended in part on an extensive collection of wigs, false moustaches and beards, as well as umbrellas fitted with needle-like blades designed to stab and potentially poison targets.
For years, investigators believed that “Lyosha the Soldier” was not a single person, and attributed the killings to several different hitmen.
Criminologists say he was eventually caught because of his weakness for romantic relationships.
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A gangster angered by Sherstobitov’s alleged theft of his fiancée reportedly revealed the assassin’s identity to police.
Sherstobitov pictured with his former wife Marina Sosnenko, now 41, on their wedding day in 2016. He was serving his prison sentence at the time
The ruthless killer was the trusted “in-house assassin” for the notorious Orekhovo-Medvedkovo mafia empire during Russia’s bloody gang wars of the 1990s
Sherstobitov’s success reportedly rested on an “arsenal” of wigs, false moustaches and beards, along with umbrellas fitted with needle-like blades designed to stab and potentially poison victims
Sherstobitov shot powerful underworld boss Otari Kvantrishvili, 46, in Moscow in April 1994. His victim is pictured here alongside then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin
Another victim was former KGB officer turned gangland leader Grigory Gusyatinsky, who was killed in 1995
The assassin was ultimately convicted of 12 murders and attempted murders.
During his imprisonment, he became a published author and poet, appeared in television interviews and built a following among female admirers.
About a decade ago, he married glamorous Marina Sosnenko, then 31, the former wife of Russian television personality Sergey Druzhko.
Photographs from their wedding, held after a religious ceremony, showed the couple posing as a Prohibition-era American gangster and a cabaret singer.
Their relationship later deteriorated. Marina stopped making conjugal visits to the prison in 2020, and the couple subsequently divorced.
Sherstobitov’s new bride, who was originally from Tashkent in Uzbekistan, is a divorcee with two daughters.
Russian reports say she deleted her social media accounts before the wedding.
Sherstobitov was born into a military family and previously served in Russia’s railway troops.
He will be 62 when he is released from prison.
Unlike many imprisoned killers, he has not chosen to fight for Putin’s forces in Ukraine.
