Russian Police Arrest Two After 18 People Die From Bootleg Alcohol

Russian police have made two arrests in connection with the deaths of more than a dozen people who died after consuming a “dangerous” bootleg alcohol, Agence France-Presse reported Saturday. According to police, individuals sold an alcohol-like liquid to multiple people in the Ural mountains, 18 of whom were killed after drinking it. The liquid had been sold over the last two weeks in Yekaterinburg, police said, one of the country’s largest cities. The arrests come as police investigate the sale of items that don’t meet government standards, with those who sell them facing up to 10 years in prison. It follows a string of deaths earlier this month in the Orenburg region after people there drank alcohol laced with methanol, a not-uncommon occurrence as alcohol prices in the country are often unattainable to those in rural areas or with low income.