© 2026

For assistance accessing the Online Public File for KAXE or KBXE, please contact: Steve Neu, IT Engineer, at 800-662-5799.
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Russian Paraplegic Sues U.S. Diplomat for 1998 Accident

NPR | By Michele Kelemen
Published November 14, 2002 at 11:00 PM CST

A Russian man seriously injured in a 1998 auto accident arrives in the United States to sue an American diplomat. Alexander Kashin was paralyzed after Douglas Kent, then U.S. consul general in Vladivostok, slammed into his car. The U.S. State Department refused to lift Kent's diplomatic immunity. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

Copyright 2002 NPR
Michele Kelemen
A former NPR Moscow bureau chief, Michele Kelemen now covers the State Department. Her reports can be heard on all NPR News programs — from Morning Edition to All Things Considered.
See stories by Michele Kelemen
Creative Commons License
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to slightly shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.