Vladimir Putin's right hand man 'injured in gun club blast'

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of the defence and space industries, is said to have accidentally pulled the trigger on himself at a shooting club.

His health was not in danger but the injury was the reason he missed a Russian Cabinet meeting, as well as a personal one with Putin, it was reported.

'Dmitry Olegovich [Rogozin] accidentally injured himself in the leg and now he is in one of Moscow hospitals,' respected news agency Interfax reported. 

His office played down the reports Rogozin, 52, shot himself, saying it was a 'sports trauma'.

His spokesman Nikita Anisimov added: 'He is in the office now, he held a meeting earlier... He feels well.

'Last week he really got a sports trauma, he was playing handball... It has nothing to do with what was written.' 

Interfax claimed the information about the shooting came from a 'source familiar with the situation', adding: 'The health of the vice PM is not in danger but he has to face some treatment.'

Rogozin, who was once the Russian ambassador to NATO in Brussels, is very close to Putin and has been tipped as his future successor. 

He is a rifle expert, collects guns, and holds patents for several gun based inventions. 

Rogozin is known for his anti-Western rhetoric and, earlier this year, blasted US President Barack Obama by tweeting: 'Obama said the Russian economy is "in tatters" thanks to US. What a dreamer.'

He also approved a propaganda film entitled 'I'm a Russian Occupier', which warned people in neighbouring countries: 'I'm an aggressor and bloodthirsty. Be scared.'

Seldom out of the headlines, he accused a bank which employed Russian spy Anna Chapman of pocketing money from the space industry, which he oversees for Putin.

Earlier this year he said: 'Money earned by us, by the country, from space launches, ended up on the accounts of various US companies and was later sent either directly into the pockets of these space bosses, or to one little bank, which was absolutely outside any state control.

'I can even name the bank - FondServisBank.'

He lambasted Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - all now in NATO and the EU - for demanding compensation from Moscow for decades of Soviet occupation.

He sneered: 'All you're going to get are dead donkeys' ears.'

Earlier this year, he claimed bearded transvestite singer and Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst symbolised Europe's degeneration.

He said the Austrian champion 'showed supporters of European integration their European future - a bearded girl'.

He played a key role in Russia's military offensive against Ukraine, and in preparing the armed forces for air strikes in Syria. 

Rogozin graduated in journalism before switching to Moscow's Marxism-Leninism University and starting a diplomatic career.

(dailymail.co.uk)