In the case of the murdered in Berlin Georgian Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, the police are looking for people who know the alleged perpetrator or have seen before the act in Berlin. For this purpose she published a photo of the suspect Vadim Sokolov.
The police also showed pictures of a bicycle and an electric scooter. The suspect should have fled by bicycle. Before he could change to the e-scooter available nearby, the police arrested him.
Police Berlin
According to research by SPIEGEL with the investigative networks Bellingcat and The Insider, there are indications of a possible involvement of Russian intelligence services. Accordingly, the suspect probably traveled with a false identity.
- (Murdered Russia's secret service in broad daylight in the middle of Berlin? Read the full story here.)
According to his visa information, the man named Vadim Andreevich Sokolov wants to be 49 years old and was born in Irkutsk, Siberia. He stated St. Petersburg as his residence.
Police Berlin
The suspect
However, nobody is reported under the specified personal details in the national Russian passport register. Throughout Russia, neither the passport database nor the driver's license register contains an entry that matches the information provided - name, date of birth, place of birth.
Passport number leads to military intelligence
The suspect's passport number, on the other hand, leads to a unit in the Moscow Ministry of the Interior, which has already issued documents for the military intelligence service GRU in the past.
Furthermore, according to research by SPIEGEL, Bellingcat and The Insider, in his visa application the man incorrectly and incompletely stated his alleged address in St. Petersburg. Vadim Sokolov traveled to Europe via Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The receptionist never wants to see him in the Paris hotel mentioned in his visa application.
The Georgian Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was on his way to the mosque on 23 August at 11:50 am when a cyclist approached him from behind in the Kleiner Tiergarten. A shot shot down the man, two times the shooter shot him from a short distance in the head. Khangoshvili was dead immediately.