“The Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg ruled on the choice of a preventive measure in the form of detention against Alexander Konovalov,” the service’s Telegram account says.

The arrest will be valid until March 27.

Konovalov is accused of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia (mediation in bribery).

The suspect pleads not guilty.

Earlier, a former employee of the Russian Ministry of Defense was sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in prison for a bribe of 2.2 million rubles.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia spoke about a third increase in the number of crimes related to bribery in 2021.