Serial killer fear grips Moscow

Russia's capital has been gripped by fear after the sixth female possible victim of a serial killer was discovered.

Police have so far confirmed that three women are thought to have been strangled by the killer. Another three murders are being investigated in connection with the killings.

"First he undresses them, then he strangles them," a police official said the day after the fourth victim, a 24 year-old woman, was found in her flat in north-eastern Moscow.

Russian media reported that the first victim, named as Yulia, 28, was found naked, strangled and beaten on July 1 near Moscow's botanical gardens.

The second, Kseniya, 18, was found a day later in the grounds of a kindergarten, much of her hair torn out. The third, Irina, 28, was found strangled near rail tracks. A fourth, Alexandra, 25, a prostitute, was dead in her flat, strangled with her dressing gown. A fifth was found near a block of flats. The sixth was found naked in the north-east of Moscow. She had been left in the hot weather for a week, making it hard to ascertain the cause of death.