Deputy head of Russian space centre detained on suspicion of bribery, TASS reports

MOSCOW, March 13 (Reuters) - The deputy head of Russia's Star City, a settlement near Moscow that hosts the country's main space training facility, has been detained along with six associates on suspicion of bribery, state news agency TASS reported on Friday.

According to RIA news agency, in January the mayor of Star City Yevgeny Barishevsky was detained on suspicion of accepting a bribe of 365,000 roubles ($4,557) and put under house arrest.

Investigators said on Friday that the inquiry had established that between 2023 and 2025 the mayor and his deputy received several bribes from businessmen, both directly and through intermediaries, in exchange for favourable outcomes in the awarding of municipal contracts.

The total amount involved exceeded 9.9 million roubles ($123,602).

Star City lies about an hour's drive northeast of the Kremlin. For decades, the town did not appear on maps, with its location revealed only after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

($1 = 80.0955 roubles)