MOSCOW -- Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu sacked his personal driver on May 16 after an online video showed him driving Shoigu's car with its siren blaring and making abusive remarks in a Moscow traffic jam, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
The video, shot by a car driver in Moscow, showed Shoigu's official Mercedes trying to maneuver through dozens of other cars with its siren on in a traffic jam.
When another driver refused to move his vehicle to allow the Mercedes to go ahead, Shoigu's driver used a loudspeaker to shout: "You jerk, do you want me to shoot your head off or what!?"
When the driver continued to refuse to move his car for the Mercedes, Shoigu's driver again used the loudspeaker and shouted: "What are you waiting for man!?"
But the driver still refused to move, and Shoigu's driver was forced drive on the side of the road to proceed out of traffic.
Shoigu's spokeswoman, Irina Andrianova, told journalists today that Shoigu was not in the car during the incident that was shown on the video.
Read more in Russian here
The video, shot by a car driver in Moscow, showed Shoigu's official Mercedes trying to maneuver through dozens of other cars with its siren on in a traffic jam.
When another driver refused to move his vehicle to allow the Mercedes to go ahead, Shoigu's driver used a loudspeaker to shout: "You jerk, do you want me to shoot your head off or what!?"
When the driver continued to refuse to move his car for the Mercedes, Shoigu's driver again used the loudspeaker and shouted: "What are you waiting for man!?"
But the driver still refused to move, and Shoigu's driver was forced drive on the side of the road to proceed out of traffic.
Shoigu's spokeswoman, Irina Andrianova, told journalists today that Shoigu was not in the car during the incident that was shown on the video.
Read more in Russian here