Murder of a Georgian in Berlin: Ukrainian information gives credence to the FSB's lead

A photo of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili the Georgian of Chechen origin assassinated in Berlin in August 2019. AFP - ODD ANDERSEN

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2 min

This is one of the cases that plague relations between Berlin and Moscow.

The trial of a Russian accused of killing a Georgian from the Chechen minority, in Berlin in August 2019, is ongoing in Germany.

New information from Ukraine can learn more about the suspect who acted under an assumed name, according to the German prosecution.

Publicity

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Information from Ukrainian security forces sheds light on the investigation by

Spiegel

,

Bellingcat

and

The Insider

, which revealed the true identity of the alleged assassin.

The latter continues to affirm that he is only a tourist named Vadim Sokolov.

But photos and marriage certificate found during a special operation in Kharkiv, the home of the stepmother of the suspect, tend to prove that the alleged murderer of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili is Vadim Krasikov, a former member of the special forces

of FSB Vympel commandos

, with whom he has kept close ties.

In one of the photos, Vadim Krasikov appears with tattoos on his arms, the same ones that the German police photographed on the arms of his prisoner, who has a passport in the name of "Vadim Sokolov".

According to

Spiegel

,

these new pieces were transmitted by the Ukrainian authorities to German investigators. 

After killing his target with a weapon fitted with a silencer, in a Berlin park, the killer fled on an electric bicycle.

He had thrown his gun and a wig in a river, but had been spotted by passers-by who had notified the police. 

The German authorities suspect Vadim Krasikov of having acted on behalf of the FSB. 

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