MOSCOW. November 1 (Interfax) - Russian Airborne Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov and acting Commander of the Airborne Forces Tula Command Col. Alexei Naumets have been seriously injured in a car crash, the Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax on Saturday.
"A MAZ truck swerved into an oncoming lane and collided with a BMW carrying Airborne Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov and acting Commander of the Airborne Forces Tula Command Col. Alexei Naumets in the Zarechensky district of Tula, on the first kilometer of Moskovsky Highway, at 9:40 a.m. Moscow time today. Shamanov sustained injuries of moderate degrees not threatening his life, and Col. Naumets has been taken to intensive care with critical injuries, and his transportation to Moscow is currently impossible. The driver of the official car has been killed," the ministry said.
The defense minister ordered that Lt. Gen. Shamanov be transferred to the Burdenko Military Hospital in Moscow, it said.
"Traffic police officers concluded that the MAZ driver grossly violated traffic rules and is to blame for the accident," it said.