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MOSCOW (AFP) - Russians have long used drink to take the edge off workplace stress: lately one man's senses were so dulled he failed to notice a knife stuck in his back by a colleague, newspapers reported Thursday.

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The newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda and Gazeta both reported the case of a factory electrician in the town of Vologda, north of Moscow, who was stabbed by the building's security guard as they were having a drunken argument.

Passing out at the factory, the man, Yury Lyalin, 53, awoke the next morning and attempted to resume his work duties, but was sent home by his superiors due to his inebriated state. No one noticed the 15-centimetre (six-inch) blade stuck between his shoulders.

Lyalin took a meandering course home -- at first missing his bus stop -- had a bite to eat, decided to lie down for a while and was only alerted to the knife in his spine when his wife woke him hours later, the newspapers reported.

The knife "went into soft tissue and by pure luck did not touch any vital organs," a doctor who treated Lyalin, Victor Belov, was quoted by Komsomolskaya Pravda as saying.

Lyalin was philosophical after the event: "We got drunk together. Things happen when you drink," he said.

The workmate faces likely prosecution for assault, Gazeta reported.

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