Bulgaria has handed over to Russia a Russian citizen wanted in Moscow on a murder charge, Russian interior ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk said. She said the handover took place today at Sofia airport.

Officers from the Interpol National Central Bureau at the Russian interior ministry and from Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service took the man into custody. Volk said he was put on an international wanted list after he fled the country.

Bulgarian partners passed on details of his arrest through Interpol.

He is charged over a murder in Moscow in 2005. The victim was a man who died from knife wounds. Russian investigators opened a criminal case under Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code.