Man shoots and wounds police officer near Moscow's Foreign Ministry

Assailant hospitalised after officers return fire, says Russia’s Investigative Committee spokeswoman

A police officer was shot and wounded near Moscow's Foreign Ministry building.

The Russian Investigative Committee said the unidentified attacker was injured when police fired back and he was taken to hospital.

“A man, who was walking along the Sivtsev Vrazhek Lane in Moscow has opened fire at the police officers with no apparent reason as they were passing by,” Yulia Ivanova, Russia’s Investigative Committee spokeswoman, told the state run Interfax news agency.

She added that the assailant, whose motive was unclear, was taken to hospital.

The Interfax news agency reported that the attacker fired a non-lethal weapon.

Ms Ivanova said a criminal case on the endangerment of the life of a law enforcement officer has been launched, she added.

Like many countries, Russia suffers from an ongoing terrorist threat. Ahead of the World Cup, the Kremlin has rolled out a massive security operation.

But shortly after it started, a taxi ploughed into a crowd, including World Cup fans, in central Moscow, injuring eight. Two Mexico supporters were among those hurt during the incident in the city’s Ilyinka Street, close to Red Square.

Video footage captured by a security camera showed the yellow cab swerving, mounting a pavement and accelerating into the crowd.

Russia’s state media has been slow in reporting the incident, and some ignored it altogether. In the past, media outlets that are loyal to the government have maintained news blackouts for terror-related incidents. Kremlin officials have praised such behaviour, unlikely to be totally voluntary, saying it avoids copycat crimes.

In February 2016, for example, most chose not to report a woman who appeared at a Moscow metro station with a decapitated baby’s head, shouting “Allahu akbar.” It was later reported the woman had mental health problems.

In December 2017, after a bus ploughed into a busy underpass in rush hour, most Russian stations again chose not to question the official account of a driver losing control. CCTV footage released later seemed inconsistent with that narrative.