A prominent Russian history professor, Oleg Sokolov, has confessed to murdering a young lover after he was found in a river with a backpack containing a woman's arms.

Russian professor who admitted to murder was an "eccentric person" says former student

A Russian historian who confessed to murdering and dismembering his ex-student lover was put in pre-trial detention as calls grew for an investigation into his alleged abuse of female students.

Oleg Sokolov, a 63-year-old history lecturer who received France’s Legion d’Honneur from Jacques Chirac in 2003, was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of murder after he was hauled out of the icy Moika River with a backpack containing a woman’s arms.

A court in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg ruled yesterday that he should be held in prison for two months ahead of the trial over the murder of his 24-year-old girlfriend and former student Anastasia Yeshchenko.

Sokolov, a professor at the prestigious Saint Petersburg State University attended by President Vladimir Putin, has confessed to killing Yeshchenko and dismembering her body, and was formally charged yesterday evening.

“I am devastated by what has happened, I repent,” Sokolov said in court.

Pale and unshaven, he broke down in tears in the glass defendant’s enclosure, covering his face with his hands.

Sokolov attempted to pin blame on the victim, telling the judge that “she went mad when I mentioned my children” from a previous marriage and “attacked me with a knife”.

Here she is - obviously a bright woman, dedicated to the study of history. Perhaps someone could try to learn something more about her, so we can start remembering Anastasia Yeshchenko and who she was and what she brought to people's lives. pic.twitter.com/WDuxObWKFg — Hallie Rubenhold (@HallieRubenhold) November 10, 2019

Sokolov was reportedly drunk and fell into the Moika, a tributary of the Neva, in central Saint Petersburg as he tried to dispose of body parts near the offices of investigators.

After disposing of the corpse he reportedly planned to commit suicide at the Peter and Paul Fortress, one of the former imperial capital’s most famous landmarks, dressed as Napoleon.

Police discovered Yeshchenko’s decapitated body and a bloodstained saw at his home.

They found more of Yeshchenko’s remains in the river yesterday, Interfax news agency reported.

Sokolov is the author of several books on French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and often led historical re-enactments of the Napoleonic war in Russia.

He and Yeshchenko co-authored a number of works and liked to wear period costumes, with Sokolov dressing up as Napoleon.

The historian, who also taught at the Sorbonne, also worked as a consultant on several films.

The horrific case drew fresh attention to pervasive sexual harassment and violence against women in Russia, including in academic circles.

Observers said Sokolov had a history of erratic behaviour and reports surfaced that he had abused another female student, prompting outrage that the university took no action at the time.

The university said that Sokolov will be fired over the “monstrous crime” and issued condolences.

“This case highlighted the impunity of abusers in society,” Alyona Sadikova, the head of the Moscow-based Kitezh women’s crisis centre, told AFP.

More than 30,000 people signed an online petition urging authorities to probe the management of Saint Petersburg State University.

The petition said Sokolov had treated students “in a monstrous way” and cited another female student as saying that he had beaten her, threatened to burn her with a hot iron and kill her in 2008.

“For unknown reasons, the abuser managed to escape any punishment,” the petition said, adding that police who had ignored the woman’s complaint should also be probed.

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Many students blamed the university leadership, saying it had long ignored the problem.

“No one paid attention,” student Ivan Pustovoit told AFP on campus, blaming the university for not stopping Sokolov “in time.”

The university said in a statement that it was unable to corroborate reports about the 2008 assault, but that Sokolov was “disciplined” for unethical conduct during a lecture last year. The Kremlin called the murder “a monstrous act of insanity” but sought to portray it as an isolated case.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov however declined to address concerns over reports of harassment in Russian universities, saying: “What does the presidential administration have to do with it?”.

Russia has no specific legislation targeting domestic violence or sexual harassment in the workplace and feminist movements like #MeToo have had little impact in the country.

Alyona Popova, a Moscow lawyer and women’s rights activist, said Sokolov – who was close to Russian authorities – was “shielded by our rotten system”.

“This murder could have been avoided,” she wrote on Facebook.

Screenwriter Andrew Ryvkin said Sokolov was one of his lecturers, describing the Saint Petersburg-based university as a place where “alcoholics” and “anti-Semites” felt at ease.