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Moscow Says Police Assault on U.S. Diplomat 'Made Up'

Spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

Russia?€™s Foreign Ministry has claimed that reports of an American diplomat being assaulted by Russian law enforcement are ?€?made up,?€? the Meduza news website reported Thursday.

The Washington Post newspaper published a report Wednesday that a security guard in the uniform of Russia?€™s Federal Security Service (FSB) had assaulted an American diplomat outside the U.S. embassy in Moscow, breaking the man?€™s shoulder.

Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry?€™s official spokesperson responded to the report in an interview published Thursday on the ministry?€™s website.

?€?A suspicious person wearing a hat pulled down low over his face got out of a taxi and rushed toward the entrance. The policeman on duty wished to check the man?€™s documents but the unknown man hit him in the face with his elbow. In the ensuing scuffle the man pushed the policeman away and hid himself in the embassy,?€? said Zakharova.

Zakharova said that the American diplomat was a CIA agent returning from a mission and whose diplomatic passport was nothing but a cover.

?€?The broken shoulder is just from the realm of fantasy,?€? she said.

?€?We again regret that Washington continually aims to ruin relations with provocation and disinformation.?€?

The Washington Post has previously reported systematic intimidation of U.S. diplomatic staff by Russia?€™s security forces.

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