Cannibal couple 'who admit eating up to 30 people' could have used dating sites to lure victims in Russia

Dmitry Baksheev and Natalia Baksheeva detained in Krasnodar after images of dismembered body found on phone

Police search apartment of couple suspected of cannibalism in Krasnodar, Russia (RT Screengrab)

A couple arrested after allegedly murdering and eating up to 30 people in Russia may have used dating sites to lure their victims, it has emerged.

Dmitry Baksheev and his wife, Natalia Baksheeva, were detained in the southern region of Krasnodar after pictures of a dismembered body were found on a phone, local media reports.

The phone, which is said to have contained several images of Mr Baksheev posing with a female victim's head and hands, was found by a builder who handed it into police earlier in September.

Ms Baksheeva told authorities there had been at least 30 victims over the past 18 years. There are fears the 45-year-old has been feeding human meat to student pilots at the military academy where the couple worked.

Remains of a woman were later found in a bag in the academy, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Seven containers of human body parts, 19 samples of human skin and remains pickled in jars were allegedly also found in the freezer and cellar of the couple’s home.

Police fear Mr Baksheev found their victims by setting up meetings on dating websites, the Daily Mail reports.

“Going through the photographs, the woman has recognised more than 30 victims that they [had] killed and eaten together with her husband,” the newspaper quoted a police source as saying.

“A psychologist was sent from Nizhny Novgorod to make her talk.”

The Russian interior ministry confirmed the man identified in the images had been arrested.

The Investigative Committee of the Krasnodar Territory released a statement admitting it had “found fragments of the human body in saline” at the couple’s house, while food fragments and frozen meat pieces "of unknown origin" were seized from the kitchen.

One photograph dated from 1999 was found appearing to show a severed human head on a serving plate alongside fruit.

The couple remain in custody on one initial murder charge while the investigation continues.