This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
A former Russian Defense Ministry official and ex-official at Moscow’s CSKA sports club has been arrested on bribery charges.
Mikhail Baryshev, who organized the Third World Army Games in 2016, was arrested in Moscow on November 23 on suspicion of accepting a 23.5 million-ruble ($355,000) bribe.
He will be held in pretrial detention for two months.
Investigators say Baryshev accepted bribes from private companies who received contracts to provide services for the World Army Games, held in Sochi.
Baryshev has denied the charges.
Baryshev previously worked as the head of the Defense Ministry’s personnel department as well as the head of CSKA, the Central Army Sports Club.
TASS reported that Baryshev was also in charge of organizing voting by Russian soldiers stationed in Syria for the 2016 presidential election.
Seveal former CSKA employees are currently being investigated for fraud and bribe taking.
