It is a mysterious death that raises questions.
The lifeless body of a Russian diplomat was found in October in front of the Russian embassy in the heart of the German capital, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry confirmed on Friday.
“We confirm that a tragic accident involving an employee of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Germany occurred on October 19, 2021,” the Russian Embassy in Berlin said in a statement.
This discovery dates back to October 19, specifies the weekly Der Spiegel, which revealed the case: the man would have fallen from an upper floor of the embassy building, located on the famous avenue Unter den Linden, near the Brandenburg Gate. Attempts to revive him had failed. According to the weekly, the Russian embassy did not allow the diplomat's body to be examined after his death. The circumstances of the alleged fall and the cause of death are "unknown", according to security sources cited by the Spiegel.
Since the deceased had diplomatic status, the German prosecution could not open an investigation into the death.
The diplomat's body has since been transferred to Russia.
Asked by Spiegel, the Russian embassy referred to a “tragic accident” that it does not wish to comment on for “ethical reasons”.
"All the procedures related to the repatriation of the diplomat's body to his country of origin were quickly settled with the competent German police and medical authorities, in accordance with current practices," she just clarified.
An FSB agent?
The found man, 35, had been accredited as second embassy secretary in Berlin since the summer of 2019, according to an official diplomatic list. However, the German secret service reportedly considered him to be an employee also working for the FSB, the Russian Internal Intelligence Service. In addition, he is said to be related to a senior official in the FSB's second branch. In Russia, this department is notably responsible for the fight against terrorism.
The Western secret service further suspects this unit to be also involved in the murder of a Georgian national in central Berlin in 2019. Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, 40, was shot twice in the head at close range, near Tiergarten on August 23, 2019. A Russian suspect, Vadim Krasikov, 55, aka Vadim Sokolov, has been on trial since October 2020 for the murder, which German prosecutors say was ordered by Moscow.