Russian actor dies in Moscow car crash

Yury Stepanov, a popular theater and movie actor, was on his way home after a performance of Chekhov's Three Sisters at the renowned Pyotr Fomenko Studio when the Lada he was traveling in was hit from behind while stopped at a red light.

"According to preliminary information, the driver of the Mazda vehicle significantly exceeded the speed limit and too late noticed the VAZ-2104 stopped at an intersection, crashing into the back of the Lada and pushing it into a VAZ-2112," a traffic police source said on Wednesday, adding that tests showed the Mazda driver was sober.

An emergencies ministry official said Stepanov died at the scene of multiple injuries, including severe fractures of his legs. The actor is survived by his wife, Irina, and a school-age son, Konstatin.

The accident follows the death of a well-known gynecologist and her daughter-in-law in an accident last Thursday involving the chauffeur-driven Mercedes of a vice president of Russia's largest independent oil company, LUKoil.

The police said Olga Alexandrina, a gynecologist like her mother-in-law, Vera Sidelnikova, was to blame for the crash, but the family has disputed the official version of events. The LUKoil executive, Anatoly Barkov, was hospitalized while his driver declined hospital treatment.

The official report, backed up by LUKoil, said the small Citroen driven by Alexandrina swerved into the opposing lane and hit the Mercedes head-on. The family says the oil executive's car pulled out into oncoming traffic to bypass one of Moscow's notorious traffic jams, and they will take their case to court.

The case has struck a chord with the Russian public, who spend hours sitting in traffic jams while the rich and powerful speed past, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.