Germany declared two Russian diplomats persona non grata after sentencing “killer on a bicycle”

Germany has declared two Russian diplomats persona non grata following a verdict against Khangoshvili. About it reported German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock.

“This murder by the state order, as was established by the court today, constitutes a grave violation of German law and the sovereignty of the FRG. That is why we have summoned the Russian ambassador to talk. It was announced to the Russian ambassador that two employees of the Russian embassy were being declared undesirable, ”Berbock said.

Earlier today in Germany the court sentenced Russian Vadim Krasikov (also known as Vadim Sokolov and the “killer on a bicycle”) to life in the case of the murder of Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili. The court deprived Krasikov of the right to parole after 15 years due to the special gravity of the crime.

Khangoshvili’s relatives, in a statement circulated through their lawyers, highlightedthat this case, from their point of view, has not yet been completed. “Those who ordered the murder, as well as several alleged accomplices, remain at large. We fear that Vadim Krasikov will be deported to Russia long before the end of his term, where he will be awarded orders and medals for his deed. This will make the verdict meaningless, ”the statement reads.

Earlier, a life sentence was demanded by the German prosecutor’s office. At the trial, federal prosecutor Nikolaus Forschner said that by killing Khangoshvili, Krasikov fulfilled the state order.

Khangoshvili, who served as a military field commander during the second Chechen war, was shot dead on 23 August 2019 in Berlin’s Little Tiergarten park.

He received asylum in Germany after a series of assassination attempts in Georgia and then in Ukraine. Putin accused Khangoshvili of organizing the attacks, although he did not explain which ones. Russia did not demand that Germany extradite Khangoshvili and did not provide any documents about his connections with terrorists, there is no information about this in open sources either, it is only known that he participated in the Chechen war.

The Insider, Bellingcat and Der Spiegel succeeded installthat Khangoshvili’s killer is Vadim Krasikov from the Vympel special unit of the FSB, who is also guilty of at least two contract killings of businessmen in Russia. Krasikov, who came to Germany with a passport in the name of Vadim S., was arrested on August 24, 2019 – the day after the murder.