A Russian policeman is in hospital with chemical burns to one eye, and has been suspended from duty following a confrontation with a passenger on the Moscow metro.

The confrontation began when the off-duty police officer in plain clothes criticized a male passenger for not giving up his seat to an elderly individual.

The two men then stepped off the train, at which point the male passenger pulled out a canister and sprayed an unknown gas in the policeman’s face.

The police officer then brandished his weapon and fired a rubber bullet at the man, which ricocheted off his arm and into the leg of a nearby woman.

This according to a spokesman for the interior ministry, Oleg Yelnikov.

Yelinkov also confirmed that an investigation was on-going, and initial results revealed that both men were sober.

Critics of the Russian police have said that this incident is indicative of what they characterize as frequent abuse of powers by Russian police.


Moscow's police chief had to apologise earlier in March after drivers were ordered to move their vehicles into the path of a high-speed car chase essentially forming a "human shield".


Last month, a police major, who has shot two people dead and wounded seven others in a supermarket rampage while off duty, was sentenced to life in prison.