The body of the Russian prisoner alleged to have shot and killed two guards during an escape was dug up yesterday, just days after being buried, following a request by the Russian consul in Thessaloniki.

Maxim Zhilim was being transferred between prisons on December 30 when he shot two guards and escaped near the Katara mountain pass. He was found three days later, apparently having committed suicide.

However, the body remained in a morgue in Larissa for almost a month without being claimed, prompting authorities to order his burial earlier this week.

Zhilim's fate appears to have prompted an outcry in his home country after the Russian state refused to pay for his body to be flown back. But the consul arrived in Larissa yesterday and asked for the body to be dug up so it can be returned to Russia.