Injured Russian Embassy Staffer's Homecoming Put Off

The condition of Vladimir Arkhipov, the injured driver from the Russian embassy to Iraq, is getting better, but his homecoming is being postponed for the time being, a doctor with the Russian embassy in Damascus told RIA Novosti.

"We reckon there is no danger to the injured's life, but we saw fit to continue in-patient treatment," the doctor said.

Arkhipov sustained an injury to his abdomen in early April when a convoy of vehicles carrying personnel from the Russian embassy in Baghdad and some journalists from Russia came under fire on their way from the besieged Iraqi capital to the border with Syria. Surgeons in a hospital in the Iraqi city of Fallujah extracted two bullets from Arkhipov's body, apparently fired from an M16 assault rifle used by US forces.

The Russian ambassador to Iraq, Vladimir Titorenko, drove himself and the rest of the convoy to safety in Damascus after the incident, before fetching Arkhipov from the Iraqi territory to Syria. The wounded man is now being treated in a Damascus hospital.

He told RIA Novosti that despite the nice conditions in the hospital, he's feeling really homesick and looks forward to coming back soon.