A man in south Russia's Stavropol region has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after trying to burn his girlfriend alive. The incident occurred in the town of Georgiyevsk in November last year, when the 23-year poured petrol over his girlfriend and her friend and set them alight after a row. Konstantin Sarantsev was also ordered to pay 550,000 rubles ($19,000) in compensation. Also on Wednesday, a man was detained in Russia's northern capital of St. Petersburg after drunkenly attempting to kill a drinking partner with a samurai sword. The victim was hospitalized with head wounds.