An 11-month-old baby was burned alive in a stove by his grandparents, say police.

Baby Maxim Sagalakov was left by his mother Viktoria, 20, in the care of her parents in the Khakassia district of Russia.

When she returned, the distraught woman found the child's charred remains in the stove of the family's house in Kharoy village.

'The grandparents were drunk and killed the baby,' said a statement from the regional Investigative Committee in charge of probing serious crime.

Viktoria Sagalakov, 20, left 11-month-old son Maxim in the care of her grandparents - aged 42 and 47 - while she was away in the Khakassia district of Russia

Sagalakov returned to find the baby had been thrown into a stove and burned to death

'A family member found the body of the boy badly damaged by the high temperature inside the stove.'

The exact cause of death is under forensic investigation but it is believed the child died from incineration after being burned alive on Tuesday.

A neighbour said the grandfather had been out and got drunk on vodka.

When he returned the child was thrown into the stove.

The grandmother, 42, and grandfather, 47, who's surname is Miyagashev, have both been arrested and a criminal investigation has been launched into the 'deliberate murder of a helpless minor', said law enforcement sources.

A family member found Maxim's body in the stove after he was thrown in by his grandfather

A neighbour said the grandfather had 'gone mad' after getting drunk on vodka and thrown the baby inside the stove, while the grandmother did not help him

Police arrested both grandparents at their home and they are now facing life in jail after being charged with murder

Neighbour Evgeniy Borgoyakov told Russian television the grandfather had 'turned mad from alcohol.'

Borgoyakov said: 'He came back home, and we hear he pushed the baby into the wood-burning stove. That was it.'

Mother Viktoria Sagalakova, 20, left an emotional message on social media.

'Rest in peace, my beloved son,' she wrote. 'My dear little son. My pain does not ease even for a minute.

'How will I cope with it that you are not with me? I can't hug you. Only your photograph is here with your kind and tender look.

Viktoria posted a heartbreaking message on social media, writing: 'Please come to see me just for one second. Come to see me in my dreams'

'I look at your picture and you are smiling to me. I miss you so much my son.

'Please come to see me just for one second. Come to see me in my dreams. I know that you see everything now because you are flying so high.'

A relative and neighbour Natalia Sagatayeva said the grandparents had often cared for the child while the mother was away and looked after him well.

'I just can't believe this,' she said. 'I am still shocked. They took good care of the boy, fed him. My children played with him. How could it happen?

Marina Chaptykova, a neighbour in the Siberian village, said: 'I felt sick when I heard this. I just can't imagine how it could happen?'

Yulia Arbuzova, an official with the committee, said: 'A criminal investigation has been launched into the murder of the child.'

The grandparents face a life sentence if convicted.