On February 17, a martial arts champion was killed after allegedly picking a fight with a security guard at the Ministry of Digital Development and Mass Communications in Moscow.
Gennady Pavlov, a Russian champion in hand-to-hand combat, allegedly began a verbal altercation with a security guard near the ministry building, which resulted in a scuffle between the two men. According to the guard’s statement to police officials, the two men fell on the ground during the fight and that Pavlov hit his head on the pavement during the fall. The 22-year-old fighter was pronounced dead at the scene.