CNN learned about Moscow’s request to include Krasikov, convicted in Germany, in exchange
CNN: Russia asked the United States for the exchange of life-sentenced in Germany Vadim Krasikov According to the channel, in the United States, the satisfaction of such a request was considered problematic, since Vadim Krasikov is serving a life sentence in Germany. Nevertheless, Washington clarified with Berlin whether they are considering such a possibility
The Russian side asked to include in the prisoner exchange with the United States former FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, who was sentenced in Berlin to life imprisonment for the murder of Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, CNN reports citing sources.
According to them, the request was transmitted through unofficial channels of the FSB. Sources noted that for this reason and because Krasikov is serving a sentence in Germany, the United States considers it difficult to fulfill the request.
An interlocutor of the TV channel in the German government said that American officials nevertheless sent a request to Berlin to find out if Germany was ready to consider such a possibility. A United States administration official described the request as a “status check”; Krasikov. A source in Berlin said that the German authorities did not seriously consider the exchange of the Russian, and this discussion did not reach high-ranking officials.
According to several sources CNN, even if the extradition of Krasikov fails, Russia will most likely ask for two prisoners in exchange for the Americans Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner.
Khangoshvili was killed in Berlin in the summer of 2019. According to investigators, Krasikov rode up to him on a bicycle and shot him three times with a pistol. A Georgian citizen died on the spot, and a Russian was detained.
Krasikov was sentenced in Germany in December last year. The court agreed with the prosecutor's office, according to which it was not just about the murder of a Georgian citizen, but about the fulfillment of the “state order to kill on German soil.” Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in Khangoshvili's murder. President Vladimir Putin called him a “separatist” who took part in the hostilities and one of the organizers of the terrorist attack in the Moscow metro.
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