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Russian ambassador summoned by Germany in relation to murder of Georgian man in Berlin

The German government reserves the right to take further steps in connection with the killing, the foreign minister underscored
Russia's Ambassador in Germany Sergei Nechayev  Sergei Fadeichev/TASS
Russia's Ambassador in Germany Sergei Nechayev
© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

VIENNA, June 18. /TASS/. The Russian ambassador to Berlin has been summoned by the German Foreign Ministry on Thursday in relation to the murder of a Georgian man in Tiergarten, Berlin, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday during a visit to Vienna. Maas added that the German side would relay its stance regarding the murder case to the Russian diplomat.

"Today, we have once again invited the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry to make our position clear to the Russian side," Maas said, adding that the German federal government reserves the right to introduce new measures in relation to this case.

"In relation to the cyberattacks on Germany’s Bundestag and the murder in Tiergarten, we have placed several Russian nationals on the EU cyber sanctions list, and we will continue working in that direction," the minister added.

"As for the murder in Tiergarten, this is a very serious case. The federal government thinks that there needs to be a comprehensive investigation of this case, with a ruling reached through the verdict of justice bodies and courts. This is what is happening right now, and we welcome it. As for the suspected influence of Russia confirmed by the prosecutor general earlier, we reacted to this at the start of the investigation of the Tiergarten murder. In this regard, we expelled two employees of the Russian embassy due to insufficient cooperation of the Russian side," Maas noted.

Murder in Tiergarten

A 40-year-old Georgian citizen was gunned down in Berlin on August 23, 2019. The office of Berlin’s prosecutor later in the day informed of the detention of a suspect identified as a 49-year-old resident of Russia.

On December 4, 2019, the German Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of two Russian embassy staffers from Germany due to what was described as insufficient cooperation by the Russian authorities in investigating the killing of the Georgian national. Moscow responded in kind. Russia is denying any involvement in the organization of the crime. The suspect, Vadim S. or Vadim K., said to be a Russian national, is accused of murder and weapon trafficking. The prosecution believes that "at an unknown time, state bodies of the Russian central government gave the order to the accused to murder the German national."

According to Germany, the order was given due to the "hostile attitude" of the victim, Tornike K., to the Russian central government, the government of Chechnya and Ingushetia, and "the pro-Russian government of Georgia." The prosecution recalled that the victim had participated in military operations against the federal government in Chechnya from 2000 until 2004 and was considered a terrorist in Russia. He was seeking asylum in Germany.

Bundestag hacker attack

In early May, German Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an international arrest warrant for Russian national Dmitry Badin, suspected of taking part in the cyberattack on Bundestag networks in 2015. The German law enforcement officers believe that Badin is a member of the Fancy Bear hacker group.

The cyberattack on the Bundestag networks began on April 30, 2015. Many German lawmakers received similar emails that ended in @un.org, making them look as if they were sent by the United Nations. The emails contained a hyperlink, clicking on which downloaded a spy program to the system. In a bid to stop its spread, German cyber security operators had to temporarily shut off the entire Bundestag IT system. At least 16 gigabytes of data, including the lawmakers’ emails, were stolen in the attack.

Russia repeatedly denied allegations of involvement in the attack. No German security agency has ever provided any evidence in support of media reports about cybercriminals’ alleged links with Moscow.