Tensions bubbled over in Moscow on Sunday when Russian police arrested a former minister in Vladimir Putin’s government for allegedly throwing a bottle of Champagne at a courier.
Pyotr Bobylev, director of the coal industry department at the Russian Energy Ministry and former deputy energy minister, allegedly attacked a 33-year-old man named Andrey who was working as a delivery driver, Russian state media TASS reported Monday.
Andrey told the authorities that he was driving a service car when he saw a couple walking toward him carrying a bottle of Champagne, Russian Telegram channel Shot reported. He said the man started shouting at him, spitting at him, and then threw the Champagne bottle.
Russian authorities confirmed in a statement that the alleged perpetrator was Bobylev.
“The violator was detained and taken to the police department for investigation, he turned out to be the director of the coal industry department in the Ministry of Energy Pyotr Bobylev,” the statement reads.
“A pre-investigation check is being carried out against Bobylev. It is also checked whether he was intoxicated,” it continues.
Bobylev has been working at the Russian Energy Ministry since 2010. He became deputy minister in 2021, but stepped down voluntarily a year later. He was then appointed as director of the Russian ministry’s coal industry department in 2022.
