MOSCOW, November 28 - RAPSI. Investigators have charged former Swifts aerobatic group commander Valery Morozov with attempted bribery, Justice Major General and Main Military Investigative Department head Alexander Sorochkin told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Wednesday.

Sorochkin said Morozov allowed his subordinates to skip service for a monthly payment of 5,000 ($161.6) rubles.

"He received several dozens of thousands of rubles as a result," Sorochkin said. "Everything has been registered."

In early October, a criminal case was opened against the commander. According to investigators, he allegedly accepted money for giving his employees a "flexible" schedule.

On November 12, the Defense Ministry fired Morozov without waiting for the investigation to end into whether he had complied with the terms of his contract.

Morozov appealed his dismissal in court.

The Swifts are a Soviet and later Russian aerobatic performance demonstrator team of the Russian Air Force.