State Duma deputy Igor Zotov denied reports Monday that he had got stuck inside a new Russian tank at an arms fair and threatened to shoot those standing around if he couldn't get out.
Zotov spent five hours trapped inside the tank after clambering inside to inspect it at the Russia Arms Expo in Nizhny Tagil, an industrial city in the Urals region, the Bloknot.ru news website reported over the weekend.
Zotov, the leader of the Party of Pensioners for Justice and member of the aJust Russia faction in the State Duma, was unable to get back through the hatch, the report claimed, adding that the lawmaker grew visibly angry and threatened to shoot bystanders.
The deputy confirmed that he had climbed inside a tank at the exhibit, but denied that he got stuck.
“I got into a tank at the exhibit. I got out of it just as easily as I got in. Yes, I am tall and portly, but I have never got stuck in a tank anywhere,” he told the Russian News Service, adding that other duma deputies were at the scene and could confirm his words.
Bloknot reported that Zotov was finally freed with the help of the Emergency Situations Ministry and the exhibit's security.
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