BERLIN (Reuters) – The man Russian President Vladimir Putin wants in exchange for releasing American journalist Evan Gershkovich is Vadim Krasikov, serving a life sentence for murdering an exiled Chechen-Georgian dissident in a Berlin park in broad daylight.
Here are some facts about Krasikov, sentenced in 2021.
WHO IS HE?
Krasikov was born in what is now Kazakhstan, then part of the Soviet Union, in 1965. Open source investigators Bellingcat believe he later worked for Russia’s FSB state security service.
WHAT WAS HE CONVICTED OF?
A German judge accused Russia of state terrorism over the murder in Berlin’s Tiergarten of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, an ethnic Chechen of Georgian citizenship who commanded a militia in Chechnya’s failed war seeking independence from Russia in the 2000s.
HOW WAS PUTIN INVOLVED?
The judge said the order to kill Khangoshvili, who was no longer active in the Chechen independence movement, must have come from Putin, noting that Russian law gave him power to authorise operations to kill people the state regards as “terrorists”, even abroad. Russia contests the judge’s interpretation.
IS HE WHO HE SAYS HE IS?
Krasikov, his lawyers, and until now the Russian state have contested his guilt and even identity, saying he is not the Russian state hitman prosecutors allege but Vadim Sokolov, a Russian tourist visiting Berlin on a sunny August day.
HOW WAS HIS IDENTITY CONFIRMED?
Intelligence shared by Ukraine provided the breakthrough: a similar-looking man with identical tattoos had earlier been photographed attending a wedding in eastern Ukraine. That man was Krasikov.
DOES RUSSIA NO LONGER CONTEST HIS GUILT?
While Putin did not mention Krasikov’s name, it was clear from his description of an individual “who due to patriotic sentiments eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals”, that he believed a killing had been carried out.
HOW WAS THE KILLING DONE?
Krasikov cycled up behind Khangoshvili on Aug. 23, 2019 and shot him three times. He was caught moments later after passers-by spotted him trying to change his clothes and dump his bicycle in a pond and alerted police. Travelling as a tourist, he had entered Germany via Paris the day before.
WHAT DOES GERMANY SAY?
Germany has always declined comment on reports that Russia might be seeking to swap Krasikov for Gershkovich. The swap would be unusual since it would entail Germany giving up a person convicted of murder on its own territory in order to recover a U.S. citizen.
WHO ELSE COULD BE SWAPPED?
Other reports have suggested Germany might seek to secure the release of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, a cause celebre for many in Germany’s political class, in exchange for Krasikov. The U.S. is also attempting to secure the release of former U.S. marine Paul Whelan, serving a 16-year-sentence on espionage charges.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
