Nacho Doce/Reuters
Rio police on Thursday said Russia’s vice consul fought off and killed a mugger on the eve of the Olympics, but Russia’s embassy in Brazil quickly denied the report, saying no embassy staff was involved. Rio de Janeiro’s homicide department had claimed Thursday that the vice consul had gotten “into a physical struggle with the assailant and during the fight the aggressor’s weapon fired shots.” “The assailant died of his wounds on the spot,” the statement read. Russia’s embassy in Brasilia seemed confused by the news, however, saying “no representative of the Russian consulate general in Rio de Janeiro was involved in an attempted assault ending with the death of the suspect.” Although the name of the supposed vice consul was not released to the public, Russia’s embassy noted in its statement that the man did not bear a Russian name, adding that all diplomatic personnel were Russian citizens “with Russian names.” Brazilian media reported that the man identified as Russia’s vice consul was in fact a Rio native and jiu-jitsu master.