A DISPUTE over the existence of God between four Russians drunk on a litre of pure alcohol resulted in the death of two of the drinking buddies.

The disagreement began over the weekend when the female house owner, her son, a male roommate and undisclosed male relative drank the liter of pure alcohol, "which they downed with snow," a police investigator told RIA Novosti.

"Soon after the drinking session, the suspect [the son] and the two other men got into a fight about the existence of God," the police official in the western Siberia region of Tomsk reported.

The son ended up attacking both men with a knife, killing them both, the report said. The suspect, who has a prior conviction record, faces life in prison if found guilty.