A British man has suffered serious injuries in a drunken quarrel over “espionage” in Moscow, Russian media reported on Saturday, citing the police. The man ended up in a hospital and his Russian drinking partner has been charged with attempted murder.
While the identity of the victim has not been made public, RIA Novosti reported, citing a city police source, that he was drinking alcohol with a Moscow resident, 37, in the Russian man’s apartment in the eastern part of the city on Thursday evening.
It is unclear how the two men ended up drinking together as nothing is known about any links between them and the police source described them as “barely known” to each other.
According to the Russian MK daily, the Russian man himself invited the Englishman into his apartment. At some point, the two men engaged in a quarrel as the Russian man accused his acquaintance of spying. The host suspected that his guest was seeking to “get some secret information” out of him, MK reported.
Mash Telegram channel claimed that the two men could barely understand each other since the Russian man did not speak English and the Englishman could not speak Russian.
There has been no further confirmation of these claims. Mash also initially identified the British national as a 41-year-old lawyer with VISTA Foreign Business Support. However, the company denied that he was working for them in comments to Mash.
The Moscow resident stabbed the Englishman at least three times, according to the police source. The man was taken to a city hospital in serious condition, the police source told RIA Novosti.
His drinking partner was detained and charged with attempted murder, the news agency said, adding that investigators are still questioning him. No new details about his motives have since emerged.
In August, a foreign citizen was arrested in Moscow on espionage charges. Little is known about the case as the court that issued the arrest warrant said the charges against a person identified only as E. M. Spector were classified. According to unconfirmed media reports, Spector is an American citizen of Russian origin.