Attempted Murder?

Spectacular accidents are so common along Moscow's broad avenues, where drivers weave through multiple lanes at high speed, that they rarely merit public attention. But when a private car forced a speeding government Volga sedan into oncoming traffic last week, causing the Volga to sideswipe another car, somersault across four lanes and knock down a tree, some Russian officials called the crash an assassination attempt. Why? The Volga carried Sergei Shakhrai, former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and President Boris Yeltsin's top lawyer in a court case that will decide the fate of the Communist Party.

Shakhrai, who is trying to prove that the party, which Yeltsin banned last year, was an illegal institution even under Soviet law, emerged from the smashed car with only a bruised shoulder. His bodyguard, who was thrown through the windshield, broke both legs, and his chauffeur suffered an injured spine. The mystery driver sped away, leading some of Shakhrai's colleagues to suspect foul play. "We don't know yet whether it was just an ordinary traffic accident," a spokesman said. As the investigation began, Shakhrai, who dismissed the assassination theory, returned to work.