The abducted Russian human rights worker, Natalia Estemirova, has been found dead in woodland in the Republic of Ingushetia. Her corpse was found with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. She was kidnapped in Chechnya on Wednesday morning.

Ms Estemirova had worked closely with the non-violent struggle against the Russian regime in Chechnya. She was active for the human rights organisation Memorial and wrote for two local newspapers.

In 2007, she won the Anna Politkovskaya Prize. The prize was named after the investigative reporter, strongly critical of the Russian government, who was shot dead in her Moscow home in 2006.