A Bangkok-based newspaper earlier said local police have detained a 24-year old local man suspected of the murder of two Russian female tourists at the resort of Jomthien near Pattaya.
"We can confirm this information," said Vladimir Pronin, head of the consulate department at the embassy.
Tatiana Tsimfer, 30, and Lyubov Svirkova, 25, were shot at point blank range on the beach last week by an unidentified Thai man, police said at the time.
"The suspect was identified as Anuchit Lamlert of Kaomaikaew district in Chon Buri province.
He has a previous criminal record for robbery against foreigners in Pattaya," The Nation newspaper's website said Thursday.
The newspaper citied police reports claiming that Anuchit had confessed to the murder but the motive remains unclear.
The bodies of the murdered tourists have been transported to Novosibirsk, a city in west Siberia, and handed over to relatives, local airport authorities said today.
Thailand's eastern seaboard resort of Jomthien, adjacent to Pattaya, is located about 110 kilometers (70 miles) southeast of Bangkok and is very popular among Russian tourists.
