Terminally ill father 'stabs son, 13, to death, fearing wife can't raise him alone'

Oleg Drachev is accused of murdering his son Ilya at their home in Moscow. Photo / VK.com

A Russian father diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour has been accused of killing his 13-year-old son as he feared his wife could not raise him alone after he died.

Oleg Drachev, 40, who also allegedly tried to stab his wife after the incident, has been detained on suspicion of murder in Moscow, according to police.

According to police, the father "stabbed the 13-year-old Ilya in his sleep" after his wife had gone to work.

Oleg Drachev and Ilya built their dog a kennel together. Photo / VK.com

His wife, who is not named, rushed home from work when they didn't answer the phone.

Police said she broke into a window and found her son dead in his bed.

Drachev then allegedly attacked her with a knife, but she managed to fight back and lock him in the bathroom before calling police.

Drachev told detectives that he feared that no one could take his place in raising his son after he died, local media outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets reported.

He added that he did not see how his wife could pay their mortgage and bring up the child without him around.

They had been known as a happy and devoted family until his recent diagnosis with an incurable brain tumour, reports said.

Drachev, a design engineer who formerly served in the Russian navy, spent all his spare time with his son, according to his family.

Oleg Drachev, 40, pictured with his wife and young son, was said to be a devoted father before his terminal diagnosis, after which "he went crazy". Photo / VK.com

They went hiking and swimming, and together built outbuildings at their summer house and a kennel for their dog.

After the alleged murder, Ilya mother told Moskovsky Komsomolets: "You cannot even imagine how he loved his son. He never punished him. Mostly his mother told him off.

"But after the cancer diagnosis, he went crazy."

The detained father is undergoing an examination at a secure psychiatric hospital in Moscow.