This is the horrifying moment a five-year-old girl was sized by an alleged paedophile and his 'male lover' before being raped and stabbed to death in Russia.
Distressing footage shows two men snatching the girl and carrying her through the snow, past unaware members of the public to a residence.
The child was subsequently raped and then killed, reports from Russia said, citing law enforcement. She had been stabbed multiple times, and her body hidden in a duffle bag.
Distressing footage shows the moment two men in Russia snatched a five-year-old girl and carried her through the snow and past unaware members of the public
One of the suspects was named as Denis Gerasimov, 44 (left), earlier jailed for paedophile offences including producing child pornography. The other suspect Vadim Belyakov, 24 (right), reportedly has a conviction for theft
When the suspects were later detained, they needed police protection to stop them from being lynched by furious locals.
The child, Veronika Nikolayeva, had been playing late yesterday afternoon near the cinema and cultural complex where her mother works in Kostroma, a city in western Russia, around 180 miles north-east of Moscow.
It was then that she was snatched by two men, say police.
Reports said she 'struggled and fought back' but witnesses did not pay attention to her distress at being snatched by two strangers.
No-one reported the screaming child's distress to police.
Her mother did not see the kidnapping but immediately reported the girl missing and a huge search began involving police and volunteers.
Pictured: CCTV footage shows the two men moments before the kidnapped the girl
