Turkish national arrested after Russian woman found dead in suitcase in Belgrade

A 28-year-old Russian woman, identified as Lyudmila Turkova Konstantinova, was found dead inside a suitcase dumped in a canal in the Padinska Skela neighbourhood of Belgrade, authorities and relatives say. The discovery has prompted a criminal investigation and the arrest of a suspect at the city's airport.

Arrest at the airport

Police detained a 25-year-old Turkish national, identified only as K. E., on suspicion of killing Turkova Konstantinova in a rented apartment in the Borča area. According to officials, the suspect was arrested on July 26 at Belgrade Airport while attempting to board a plane to leave Serbia.

Relatives and friends said Lyudmila had arrived in Serbia on July 23 as a tourist to visit friends who had been living in Belgrade for the previous two months. In Saint Petersburg she worked as a bartender, promoter and body‑art model, and those who knew her describe her as lively and attractive.

Friends provided a translated account of her appearance: "Lyudmila was a beautiful girl. She loved tattoos a lot and had several distinctive marks on her body – two snakes on the left thigh, a calligraphic tattoo on the right leg, as well as Japanese-style motifs on her shoulders."

The timeline pieced together by friends shows that on July 25 she went out for the night. Her last message to friends came at about 23:15, saying she was heading to a well-known club in the Palilula municipality. She also messaged her mother in Russia that everything was fine and that she would call the next day — a call that never happened.

When Lyudmila did not return to the rented flat, acquaintances raised the alarm and a search began. A witness reported seeing her near an abandoned warehouse close to the club; friends checked the site but initially found nothing. The subsequent recovery of her body in a suitcase at Padinska Skela turned the case into a homicide investigation.

Photo: press material from the event