Police in central Russia are investigating a roadside brawl that reportedly broke out between the sons of two senior local officials — a deputy governor and a former police chief.
A police officer was hospitalized with various injuries, including a wound from a non-lethal pistol, following the fight in Ulyanovsk, the city on the banks of the Volga River that was the birthplace of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, the local branch of the Interior Ministry said in a statement Monday.
The statement did not identify the officer, but local news portal 73online.ru reported that the man was the son of a former chief of the local Interior Ministry branch, Sergei Arapov.
The other alleged party in the skirmish was the son of Ulyanovsk Deputy Governor Vildan Zinnurov, Eduard, who according to Russian media reports had a disagreement with Arapov's two sons.
The well-connected young men "had a duel," tabloid news agency Life News, which reportedly enjoys close ties with Russia's security agencies, said in a headline.
Zinnurov, the deputy governor, confirmed that his son was involved in the brawl, but blamed the incident on his combatants — the sons of the former police chief, Life News reported.
News portal 73online.ru suggested that the fight stemmed from a dispute between the young men over whose father was more powerful.
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