DISINFO: Russia not involved in the killing of Georgian citizen
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: arabic.sputniknews.com (archived)*
  • Date of publication: December 04, 2019
  • Outlet language(s): Arabic
  • Reported in: Issue 176
  • Countries / regions discussed: Georgia, Germany, Russia
Tags:
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili Russophobia

DISINFO: Russia not involved in the killing of Georgian citizen

SUMMARY

There is no evidence that Russian government agencies were involved in the incident (A Georgian citizen was killed on August 23 in Berlin, Germany).

RESPONSE

A recurring narrative of pro-Kremlin disinformation that the West blames Russia unfairly and without evidence.

Regarding the incident in Berlin, a 40-year-old man, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, was shot dead in a Berlin park just before midday on 23 August 2019. The victim was a Chechen exile who had survived two previous attempts on his life. The Dossier Center, a London-based research group founded by Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, a Russian former oil billionaire, and other investigation groups, such as Bellingcat, have identified the suspect as Vadim N. Krasikov, a 49-year-old Russian citizen from Siberia who, according to Bellingcat, used fake identity documents to enter Germany a few days before. The German Foreign Office says Russian officials have not responded sufficiently to repeated requests for information, despite repeated high-level and urgent demands. In addition, the German Federal Foreign Office insisted in a statement that "the Federal Public Prosecutor General has taken over the investigations into this case as there are sufficient grounds to believe that the killing was carried out either on behalf of state authorities of the Russian Federation or of those of the autonomous Chechen Republic as part of the Russian Federation". On December 4th, Germany expelled two Russian diplomats in response to this incident.

Embed

Related disinfo cases

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

    Your opinion matters!

    Data Protection Information *

      Subscribe to the Disinfo Review

      Your weekly update on pro-Kremlin disinformation

      Data Protection Information *

      The Disinformation Review is sent through Mailchimp.com. See Mailchimp’s privacy policy and find out more on how EEAS protects your personal data.