Saratov police arrest Communist Party lawmaker Valery Rashkin for illegal hunting

Communist Party (KPRF) lawmaker Valery Rashkin was detained on charges of illegal hunting, TASS reported on Friday, October 29. A source in law enforcement told the state news agency that Rashkin was stopped in the Lysogorsky District of the Saratov Region while driving under the influence, and that police found an elk carcass in his vehicle.

“Rashkin was detained. He, according to preliminary information, was drunk driving. In the trunk there was an elk carcass,” the TASS source said.

Rashkin told police that he found the elk carcass, and decided to take it and butcher it, an unnamed source told the local news site SarInform. This was also reported by the Telegram channels Baza, Mash, and Life.

Police officials asked Rashkin to take a breathalyzer test, but the lawmaker refused. As such, administrative paperwork was drawn up against him for refusing to undergo a medical examination for intoxication.

The Saratov Region’s Hunting and Fishing Committee also filed a complaint against Rashkin on suspicion of illegal hunting, which prompted regional police to open the criminal case.

In a press release published on Friday, the Interior Ministry’s Main Directorate for the Saratov Region confirmed the arrest of a 66-year-old man on charges of illegal hunting, following reports of shots in the Lysogorsky District.

• Valery Rashkin is a veteran lawmaker from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF). Following the State Duma elections in September, he was among the KPRF representatives who organized two rallies in Moscow protesting the electronic voting results in the capital, which the Communist Party refuses to recognize.