A police officer drew his weapon to break up a confrontation at a gas station in the Irkutsk region settlement of Ust-Ordynsky, People of Baikal reported. Video of the incident spread on social media.
The trouble started when the driver of an Audi Q7 cut to the front of a line where people had been waiting for five hours. The driver — wearing a T-shirt bearing Russia’s coat of arms and tricolor flag — refused to move to the back.
Those in line appealed to a police officer on duty at the station, but his presence did not immediately defuse the situation. The Audi driver got out of his car, threatened to smash the phone of a woman who was filming the incident, then advanced on the officer — who drew his weapon. He did not fire. The Audi driver returned to his car and left.
Police told local media the incident was “under special monitoring.” Authorities are searching for the driver, whose identity has already been established: he is Vladimir Botoev, a 36-year-old resident of Ust-Ordynsky. The alert, People of Baikal reported, states that Botoev was intoxicated at the gas station.
The Irkutsk region, like other regions of Russia, has faced a gasoline shortage. Due to the fuel crisis caused by Ukrainian drone strikes on major Russian oil refineries, a gasoline shortage has emerged in Russia. Russian residents are standing in lines lasting several hours to fill up their cars, while many regions have strict limits on the number of liters that can be purchased at one time.
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