A lawmaker who ran over and killed a university professor while driving under the influence of alcohol has been fired by the regional governor of Rostov.
"I just signed the order to release [Valery] Budayev from his position," Governor Vasily Golubev wrote Monday on his Twitter account.
The incident, which took place Saturday, saw Budayev drive his car into two parked vehicles before mounting a sidewalk and crash into two elderly pedestrians, local news site Gorodskoi Reportyor reported.
The victims — Vladislav Smirnov, a professor of journalism at the local Southern Federal University, and his wife — were taken to a nearby hospital where Smirnov later died from his injuries, the report added.
"Vladislav [Smirnov] did not die in a tragic accident. He was killed by the familiar sense of impunity that runs through the blood of some officials," his relatives were quoted as saying of the incident.
Budayev refused a request to undergo a breathalyzer test but was visibly drunk at the scene of the accident, police said, adding they had opened a criminal case into the matter.
