MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. Moscow denies all allegations of involvement of Chechnya's authorities in the murder of a Russian citizen in Austria, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.
The diplomat pointed out that the media speculate on various versions and motives of the incident, including the criminal one.
"We note with regret that a number of media publications speculated that the official authorities of the Republic of Chechnya may be involved in the murder. We most decisively deny these insinuations and consider such speculations inappropriate and obstructing the objective investigation," she said.
According to the spokeswoman, the investigation of the event, including determination of citizenship of the victim and the suspects, is still underway.
"The Russian Embassy in Austria actively cooperates with the competent agencies of this state," she added.
Earlier, sources in the Austrian police told TASS that a 43-year-old asylum seeker, a Russian citizen, was shot in Austria’s Gerasdorf. Consequently, a suspect, a 47-year-old Russian citizen, was apprehended. On Sunday, another man was nabbed over suspicions of involvement in the incident.
The Korneuburg Prosecutor’s Office told TASS that the murdered Russian citizen was a Chechen national, named Martin Beck in Austria in accordance with the identity protection program. Both apprehended suspects are also Chechen nationals. The Prosecutor’s Office probes into politics as the motive behind the murder, because the victim had a blog where he expressed his political positions. Kadyrov himself accused intelligence services working against Russia of the murder. According to him, foreign intelligence services create and then eliminate political bloggers to spark political resonance against Russia.