Germany has expelled two Russian diplomats, who were part of the Russian embassy in Berlin, because it suspects them of having participated in the murder of a Georgian citizen in the German capital.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs assessed the move as hostile and unjustified. They promised that a response from the Kremlin would follow.
"This is an absolutely unfounded speculation. The German media is heating up this topic in some way, but that does not mean that things are like that," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, RTS reports.
Deutsche Welle reports that it is about the murder of Zelmikan Kangošvili (40), who was killed in a Berlin park in August. The attacker killed a Georgian man riding a bicycle in broad daylight. A 49-year-old Russian citizen, Vadim Sokolov, who has since been arrested, is suspected of the murder, and suspicions of Russia's involvement in the crime existed from the beginning of the investigation, although Moscow denied the accusations.
Prosecutors said there was "sufficient evidence" that the killing was carried out with the permission of the state services of Russia or Chechnya.
According to Deutsche Welle, Kangoshvili was an asylum seeker of Chechen origin, who fought against the Russians during the Second Chechen War (1999-2009). He was also known by another identity as "Tornike K." used by German prosecutors. After the war, he allegedly worked in Ukraine and Georgia against Russian interests.
He applied for asylum in Germany in 2016 after multiple assassination attempts in Georgia. However, his request was rejected and he was to be deported. "We were warned that this would happen sooner or later," his ex-wife, Manana Catijeva, told DW.
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