Depardieu slightly injured in Moscow car accident: report

PanARMENIAN.Net - French actor and now Russian citizen Gerard Depardieu has been slightly injured in a car accident in central Moscow, RIA Novosti reported citing an unidentified law-enforcement official.

Depardieu, 64, was returning from a filming session for his latest movie, "Turquoise," when a taxi ploughed into the side of the mini-van in which he was traveling, the official said. The collision reportedly took place during the early hours of Sunday, June 23 morning.

The local authority confirmed the accident, and said the taxi driver who rammed into Depardieu’s vehicle had jumped a red light and did not have a valid driving license.

Tabloid website Life News subsequently published photographs showing the actor posing with the traffic police who responded to the incident, and the two vehicles with visible dents.

Apparently not behind the wheel during the accident, Depardieu was banned from driving for six months by a French court last week following a drink-driving conviction. The actor was found to be three times over the legal limit when he fell off his scooter in Paris last year.

The star of films such as "Green Card" and "Cyrano de Bergerac," Depardieu was given a Russian passport by President Vladimir Putin in January after criticizing the French government for its high taxation. Russia has a flat-rate income tax of 13 percent.