Russia denies vice-consul killed attacker near Olympic village
Earlier reports had stated that a Russian diplomat with martial arts training had disarmed and killed an assailant in the Barra da Tijuca area of Rio.
The Russian diplomatic service has moved to distance itself from the killing of an armed robber near the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, which was initially attributed to an unnamed vice-consul who was travelling in the area with his wife and daughter.
Police sources were quoted by news wire Agencia Brasil as saying an attempted robbery had been thwarted by a Russian diplomat who disarmed the assailant and shot him dead when attacked in the Barra da Tijuca area of the city where the Olympic Village is located. The vice-consul, who is trained in the martial art of ju-jitsu, according to the police sources, was in a car with his wife and child when two armed men on a motorbike approached. When it became clear that an attempted robbery was in progress, the diplomat seized the weapon and shot one of the men dead. The other then fled on the motorbike, the police said.
However, the Russian consul-general in Rio, Vladimir Tokmakov, on Friday denied any of his staff had been involved in the robbery. “All of the Russian diplomats and staff of the Russian foreign institutions in Rio de Janeiro are safe and sound and have no relation whatsoever to the incident,” he told Russian news agency Tass. “The man who was caught up in the incident may have been posing as an employee of the consulate.”