A well-known Russian historian has confessed to murdering his partner, his lawyer says, after he was found in a river with a backpack containing a woman"s arms.

Oleg Sokolov, 63, was drunk and fell into the river as he tried to dispose of body parts. Police then found the decapitated body of Anastasia Yeshchenko, 24, at his home in the city of St Petersburg.

"He has admitted his guilt," his lawyer, Alexander Pochuyev, said, adding that the historian regretted what he had done and was now co-operating.