Russia Paralympic supporter gets apartment

A Belarusian sport official who protested Russia's ban from the Rio Paralympics by holding up a Russia flag at the opening ceremony was awarded an apartment in Moscow on Monday.

The official from the Belarusian Sport and Tourism Ministry, Andrei Fomochkin, was kicked out of the Paralympics for his protest last month. Russia's Paralympics team had been banned because of far-reaching allegations of abuse of performance-enhancing drugs.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday that Fomochkin would receive an apartment in a finished building. She described him as "our Belarusian hero."

The head of the Sapsan real estate development group, Sergei Shmakov, handed keys and documentation for the apartment to Fomochkin at a ceremony in Moscow, state media reported.