Russian Santa Claus residence accused of smuggling reindeer

MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti) – A Ural Mountain residence of Russia’s equivalent of Santa Claus, Father Frost, has been accused of smuggling reindeer, a media report said Tuesday.   A senior veterinary official in the Sverdlovsk Region, where the residence is located, said the outfit’s management illegally transported two reindeer without a proper veterinary inspection and required documentation. Natalya Guryeva told online tabloid Life News that the reindeer were shipped to the region last year to serve as part Father Frost’s entourage at his house outside the regional capital, Yekaterinburg.