Overview

• Regional authorities report 19 alcohol-related deaths in the Slantsevsky district in September, with methanol confirmed in eight of them.
• The Investigative Committee opened a case under Part 3, Article 109 of the Criminal Code and will ask a court to place the suspects in pretrial custody.
• A man born in 1946 and a woman born in 1964 were detained, and police say the man in the village of Gositcy diluted purchased spirit with water and sold it locally.
• Investigators found identical unlabelled bottles in victims’ homes, and prosecutors released video of a storage site showing numerous canisters.
• Court records indicate the detained man was fined in 2020 for illegal sale of a water–alcohol mixture as police work to establish the supply chain and source of the spirit.