A Russian man has been detained for ‘stabbing his lover to death’ for fear she was a British spy.
Timur Demidenko, 30, confessed to killing his girlfriend in St Petersburg, claiming he did so to ‘save Russia from a British agent’.
The alleged killer also ‘decapitated a pigeon’ before running naked into the street in St Petersburg, according to local media.
Police were called by alarmed neighbours and found Timur, who told them: ‘I saved the country from a spy.’
Police found his girlfriend’s body in a pool of blood in his messy apartment.
The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a murder probe, but the victim is believed to be Russian.
Timur, who has previous convictions, was detained, and officers said he ‘confessed’ and ‘expressed remorse for the killing.’
He will undergo a series of psychiatric checks pending a full-scale murder investigation, but has been detained in pre-trial detention.
In December, a British man was arrested in Ukraine on suspicion of spying for Russia.
Ross David Cutmore is alleged to have been recruited by Vladimir Putin’s FSB security service and to have passed sensitive information to Russian authorities in exchange for money.
Prosecutors in Kyiv say he handed over ‘the coordinates of Ukrainian units, photographs of the training area, and information regarding military personnel that could be used to identify them’.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: ‘We are providing consular assistance to a British man who is detained in Ukraine.
‘We remain in close contact with the Ukrainian authorities.’
Officials say Cutmore arrived in Ukraine in January 2024 to train recruits in the southern city of Mykolaiv to use firearms and tactical skills.
But he is said to have left that job months later, having agreed to work for the Russian security services for ‘easy money’, the Kyiv Independent reports.
In a statement, the Kyiv prosecutor’s office said: ‘In addition, analysis of his correspondence confirmed that he had carried out other tasks for the benefit of the Russian special services.’
He faces up to 12 years’ imprisonment and confiscation of property, Ukrainian officials confirmed.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.