A pair teenage girls have been detained on suspicion of murdering a close friend and former classmate because “she was too attractive”.

The disfigured body of Viktoria Averina was found at an abandoned building site in the Russian city of Archangel.

The 17-year-old's face had been ripped with pieces of broken glass before she was strangled to death.

While police initially suspected a man was behind the brutal killing, now two former female classmates, both 16, have been detained on suspicion of murder.

Vika Averina appeared to have been strangled to death

The pair, named only by first names Lina and Irina, are said to have confessed to killing a girl who was seen as a longtime close friend, according to law enforcement.

A state investigator said: “According to the young girls, the victim thought she was more beautiful than her friends.

“During the police interrogation, the girls explained that the victim allegedly abused them because of this.

“They did not like such behaviour.”

The girls reportedly said Vika - who was studying at college as a chef - was “arrogant because of her bright and attractive face”.

The investigator added that all three of the girls are from "socially normal families.”

One of the teenagers suspected in the murder of Viktoria Averina

The two suspects made up a story to persuade Vika to come to building site where they attacked her, a statement from the Archangel regional investigative committee claimed.

One of the alleged killers held Vika while the other handed her objects to hit the victim with.

They broke a bottle against her head, cut her face with smashed glass and then strangled her, it is claimed.

They went back home after the murder and expressed horror when her body was discovered, it is alleged.

The other suspect in the killing

A friend told the local media that the three were close but that Vika’s friends were “physically bigger than her and behaved like a mob”.

She said: “Vika was a beautiful girl but we would never think this was a reason for murder.”

The girls had been at school together but Vika had left to start a college course as a trainee chef.

The suspects face up to 15 years in jail if convicted.