Zelimkhan Khangoshvili

Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was born into the family of Sultan Khangoshvili on 15 August 1979, in the Duisi village of the Pankisi Gorge,{{cite news|url=https://www.interfax.ru/world/686721|title=Источник рассказал о террористическом прошлом убитого в Берлине гражданина Грузии|trans-title=The source spoke about the terrorist past of a Georgian citizen killed in Berlin|agency=Interfax|date=4 December 2019|access-date=18 February 2020|language=ru|archive-date=22 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222014049/https://www.interfax.ru/world/686721|url-status=live}} a region of Georgia home to a large ethnic Chechen population known as the Kists. He was the nephew of Chechen and Kist historian Khaso Khangoshvili. Zelimkhan finished school in Pankisi and later went to work in Chechnya, the residence of his elder brother Zurab, in the late 1990s.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-49733168|title=Выстрелы в центре Берлина. История жизни и смерти чеченского полевого командира|trans-title=Shots fired in the center of Berlin. The story of the life and death of a Chechen field commander|publisher=BBC Russian Service|date=19 September 2019|access-date=18 February 2020|language=ru|archive-date=18 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218112003/https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-49733168|url-status=live}} Chechnya was at the time known as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, a de facto independent break-away republic of Russia.

In 2001, after the outbreak of the Second Chechen War, Khangoshvili joined the armed resistance of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in their fight against Russia.{{Cite web|last1=Mamsurov|first1=Alikhan|last2=Kmuzov|first2=Beslan|url=http://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/48269/|title=Chechen Diaspora sees Russian trace in Khangoshvili's murder in Berlin|website=Caucasian Knot|date=29 August 2019|access-date=17 September 2019|archive-date=14 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914030334/http://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/48269/|url-status=live}} He was a field commander and had close ties to former Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed in March 2005 in a raid by the Federal Security Service (FSB RF). Khangoshvili's brother, Zurab, confirmed that Zelimkhan participated in the 2004 Nazran raid on security, military and police forces in the Russian Republic of Ingushetia that neighbours Chechnya. Zelimkhan was reportedly wounded in the leg during this battle. Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed that he was one of the perpetrators of a Moscow metro bombing. Zelimkhan denied that he was ever responsible for war crimes, telling Georgian media, "The Russians are blaming me for many things, including terrorist attacks. This is a lie. No one can provide any evidence that a single civilian was injured or killed in any of my actions!"{{cite news|last=Tlis|first=Fatima|date=13 December 2019|url=https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-putin-berlin-killing-chechen/30324251.html|title=Update: A Killing in Berlin, And Putin's Misleading Claims About A "Blood-Thirsty" Chechen|work=Polygraph.info|access-date=29 December 2019|archive-date=30 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230014145/https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-putin-berlin-killing-chechen/30324251.html|url-status=live}}

After returning to Georgia, Khangoshvili commanded an anti-terror military unit in South Ossetia during the 2008 war, but his unit was never deployed. In 2016, Khangoshvili, his wife, and four children sought refuge in Germany after several attempts on his life in Georgia, which his brother believes were orchestrated by Russian intelligence, although the accusation has been denied by Russian authorities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/chechen-commander-khangoshvili-berlin-assassination-moscow-(and-grozny)/30133813.html|title=Former Chechen Commander Gunned Down In Berlin; Eyes Turn To Moscow (And Grozny)|last=Eckel|first=Mike|date=28 August 2019|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025183024/https://www.rferl.org/a/chechen-commander-khangoshvili-berlin-assassination-moscow-(and-grozny)/30133813.html|archive-date=25 October 2019|access-date=17 September 2019}}

On 23 August 2019, at around midday in the Kleiner Tiergarten park in Berlin, Khangoshvili was walking down a wooded path on his way back from the mosque he attended when he was shot three times—once in the shoulder and twice in the head—by a Russian assassin on a bicycle with a suppressed Glock 26. The bicycle, a plastic bag with the murder weapon, and a wig the perpetrator was using were dumped into the Spree.{{Cite web|author=Bellingcat Investigation Team|url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/08/30/suspected-assassin-in-the-berlin-killing-used-fake-identity-documents/|title=Suspected Assassin In The Berlin Killing Used Fake Identity Documents|date=2019-08-30|access-date=2021-12-22|website=Bellingcat|language=en|archive-date=9 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809033440/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/08/30/suspected-assassin-in-the-berlin-killing-used-fake-identity-documents/|url-status=live}} The suspect, identified as 56-year-old Russian national "Vadim Sokolov" by German police, was apprehended soon after the assassination.{{Cite web|date=2021-12-15|title=Germany expels Russian diplomats over state-ordered killing|url=https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-germany-foreign-policy-moscow-00406c5409443089310c725441d30915|access-date=2021-12-15|website=AP NEWS|language=en|archive-date=6 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806073758/https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-germany-foreign-policy-moscow-00406c5409443089310c725441d30915|url-status=live}} The Russian government and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov have both been linked to the killing.{{cite news |title=Chechen leader 'was behind Berlin assassination' of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/chechen-leader-was-behind-berlin-assassination-of-zelimkhan-khangoshvili-v3wgb77hl |work=The Times |date=6 December 2019 |access-date=13 August 2020 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418185127/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chechen-leader-was-behind-berlin-assassination-of-zelimkhan-khangoshvili-v3wgb77hl |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |author=Bellingcat Investigation Team |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/09/27/new-evidence-links-russian-state-to-berlin-assassination/ |title=New Evidence Links Russian State to Berlin Assassination |date=27 September 2019 |website=Bellingcat |access-date=26 October 2019 |archive-date=16 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016174519/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/09/27/new-evidence-links-russian-state-to-berlin-assassination/ |url-status=live }}

Khangoshvili's body was later transported to Georgia, and was buried in his birth village on 29 August 2019.{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/georgian-national-khangoshvili-funeral-shot-dead-in-berlin-pankisi/30136250.html|title=Former Chechen Commander Slain In Berlin Buried In Native Georgian Village|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=29 August 2019|access-date=18 February 2020|archive-date=18 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218145556/https://www.rferl.org/a/georgian-national-khangoshvili-funeral-shot-dead-in-berlin-pankisi/30136250.html|url-status=live}}

Khangoshvili's assassin, detained by German police, traveled on a valid Russian passport issued under the fake identity of Vadim Sokolov. Reports by Der Spiegel and other media disclosed that the suspect traveled from Moscow to Paris to Warsaw, where he rented a hotel room for five days, during which he traveled to Berlin. Sokolov's passport was issued without any biometric data, the inclusion of which has been the default option for all Russian passports since 2009, except "in emergency situations when the applicant has no time to wait for the fingerprint encryption and printing process".{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} The Daily Beast noted that "20 GRU operatives outed by the independent investigative research network Bellingcat in recent years, including those suspected of poisoning the Skripals in England, had used these 'old-style' passports in ultimately futile attempts to hide their cover identities."{{cite news|last=Weiss|first=Michael|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/zelimkhan-khangoshvilis-murder-in-berlin-the-untold-story-of-a-chechen-jihadist-turned-secret-agent|title=A Murder in Berlin: The Untold Story of a Chechen 'Jihadist' Turned Secret Agent|work=The Daily Beast|date=27 September 2019|access-date=12 December 2019|archive-date=16 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216114236/https://www.thedailybeast.com/zelimkhan-khangoshvilis-murder-in-berlin-the-untold-story-of-a-chechen-jihadist-turned-secret-agent|url-status=live}}

The research network Bellingcat and the investigative authorities concluded that Sokolov was actually Vadim Krasikov, born in August 1965 in the then Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. Krasikov was also named as a suspect in the murder of a Russian businessman on 19 June 2013 in Moscow. The murder was recorded by a surveillance camera and had a similar pattern: a cyclist murdered the businessman from behind with a head shot.{{cite web |author=Bellingcat Investigation Team |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/12/03/identifying-the-berlin-bicycle-assassin-part-1-from-moscow-to-berlin/ |title=Identifying The Berlin Bicycle Assassin: From Moscow to Berlin (Part 1) |work=Bellingcat |date=3 December 2019 |access-date=11 December 2019 |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302133441/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/12/03/identifying-the-berlin-bicycle-assassin-part-1-from-moscow-to-berlin/ |url-status=live }} The Russian Interpol red notice on 23 April 2014 against Krasikov was withdrawn on 7 July 2015 without a reason. Investigations reported by Bellingcat suggest that Krasikov was a member of the elite unit Vympel.{{cite web | author = Bellingcat Investigation Team | url = https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/12/06/identifying-the-berlin-bicycle-assassin-russias-murder-franchise-part-2/ | title = Identifying The Berlin Bicycle Assassin: Russia's Murder Franchise (Part 2) | work = Bellingcat | date = 6 December 2019 | access-date = 11 December 2019 | language = en-GB | archive-date = 18 April 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210418094356/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/12/06/identifying-the-berlin-bicycle-assassin-russias-murder-franchise-part-2/ | url-status = live }} Police investigations in connection with the murder in Berlin revealed that Sokolov and Krasikov are the same person.{{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50659179 | title = Berlin murder: Germany expels two Russian diplomats | work = BBC News | date = 4 December 2019 | language = en | access-date = 4 December 2019 | archive-date = 26 March 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210326174329/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50659179 | url-status = live }} No personal connections between him and Khangoshvili were found to exist.

On 4 December 2019, the Federal Attorney General (Public Prosecutor General) took over the investigation into the case. This was justified by the fact that "there were sufficient factual indications that the killing of Tornike K. [Zelimkhan Khangoshvili's alias] was either commissioned by government agencies of Russia or those of the Chechen Republic as part of the Russian Federation. On the same day, two members of the military intelligence service (GRU) in the Russian Embassy in Berlin were expelled from the country in connection with the investigation."{{Cite news |title=Mord im Kleinen Tiergarten: Deutschland weist russische Botschaftsmitarbeiter aus |language=de |first1=Matthias |last1=Gebauer |first2=Roman |last2=Lehberger |first3=Fidelius |last3=Schmid |first4=Wolf |last4=Wiedmann-Schmidt |trans-title=Murder in the Kleiner Tiergarten: Germany identifies Russian embassy employees |work=Der Spiegel |date=4 December 2019 |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/tiergarten-mord-deutschland-weise-russische-botschaftsmitarbeiter-aus-a-1299633.html |access-date=26 October 2019 |archive-date=6 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806073901/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/tiergarten-mord-deutschland-weist-russische-botschaftsmitarbeiter-aus-a-1299633.html |url-status=live }}

On 6 December 2019, several media outlets reported that the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) received credible information that a Russian secret service agent was attempting to kill Krasikov while in remand to prevent possible statements from him; as a result, Krasikov was moved from the JVA Moabit to the high-security wing of the JVA Tegel.{{cite web| url = https://www.rbb24.de/panorama/beitrag/2019/12/berlin-tiergarten-mord-tatverdaechtiger-hochsicherheitstrakt-tegel.html| title = Mord im Tiergarten: BND befürchtet Ermordung von mutmaßlichem Auftragskiller | trans-title = BND fears murder of alleged contract killer | language = de | work = RBB | first = Michael | last = Götschenberg | date = 6 December 2019 | access-date = 28 February 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225234304/https://www.rbb24.de/panorama/beitrag/2019/12/berlin-tiergarten-mord-tatverdaechtiger-hochsicherheitstrakt-tegel.html |archive-date=25 December 2019}}

In February 2020, Bellingcat reported that it suspected that the operation had been supported by the FSB RF, both with training and the false passport.{{cite news | author = Bellingcat Investigation Team | url = https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/02/17/v-like-vympel-fsbs-secretive-department-v-behind-assassination-of-zelimkhan-khangoshvili/ | title = 'V' For Vympel: FSB's Secretive Department 'V' Behind Assassination of Georgian Asylum Seeker in Germany | work = Bellingcat | date = 17 February 2020 | access-date = 8 March 2020 | language = en-GB | archive-date = 17 February 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200217161813/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/02/17/v-like-vympel-fsbs-secretive-department-v-behind-assassination-of-zelimkhan-khangoshvili/ | url-status = live }}

In June 2020, the federal prosecutor general brought charges against a Russian citizen, called the act a contract killing, and accused the Government of the Russian Federation as the mastermind behind Khangishvili's murder. According to the prosecution, the background to the killing order was Khangoshvili's opposition to the Russian Federation's Central Government, the governments of its autonomous republics Chechnya and Ingushetia, and the pro-Russian government of the Republic of Georgia. This was followed by a conversation between the Russian ambassador to Germany with the German Foreign Office.{{cite news| author = Der Spiegel | url = https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/mord-im-kleinen-tiergarten-bundesregierung-droht-russland-mit-weiteren-strafmassätze-a-847c3a5d-975d-4938-9a25-957e84b41bc9| title = Mord im Kleinen Tiergarten: Bundesregierung droht Russland mit weiteren Strafmaßnahmen | newspaper = Der Spiegel|date=18 June 2020 |trans-title=Murder in the Kleiner Tiergarten: Federal government threatens Russia with further punitive measures | access-date = 18 June 2020 | language = de}} According to Bellingcat, the prosecution also named "Roman D." as a possible accomplice,{{cite web | author = Bellingcat Investigation Team | url = https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/06/29/fsbs-magnificent-seven-new-links-between-berlin-and-istanbul-assassinations/ | title = FSB's Magnificent Seven: New Links between Berlin and Istanbul Assassinations | work = Bellingcat | date = 29 June 2020 | access-date = 5 July 2020 | language = en-GB | archive-date = 15 March 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210315085247/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/06/29/fsbs-magnificent-seven-new-links-between-berlin-and-istanbul-assassinations/ | url-status = live }} in accord with their suspicion that more than one person was involved in the murder.{{cite web | author = Bellingcat Investigation Team | url = https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/08/29/suspected-accomplice-in-berlin-tiergarten-murder-identified-as-fsb-vympel-officer/ | title = Suspected Accomplice in Berlin Tiergarten Murder Identified as FSB / Vympel Officer | publisher = Bellingcat | date = 29 August 2020 | access-date = 6 September 2020 | language = en-GB | archive-date = 19 March 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210319174805/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/08/29/suspected-accomplice-in-berlin-tiergarten-murder-identified-as-fsb-vympel-officer/ | url-status = live }} Bellingcat pointed out that deliberately false references to the identity of the suspect had been circulated.{{cn|date = August 2024}}

On 15{{nbsp}}December 2021, a Berlin court found Krasikov guilty of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment without automatic parole. The court also determined that the murder was ordered by the Russian government as a "state-contracted killing".{{cite news

| agency = Associated Press

| title = Russian government ordered murder of Chechen in Berlin, German court rules

| date = 15 December 2021

| work = The Guardian

| location = London, United Kingdom

| issn = 0261-3077

| url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/15/germany-convicts-russian-man-of-of-chechen-separatist

| access-date = 2021-12-15

| archive-date = 15 April 2022

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220415222217/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/15/germany-convicts-russian-man-of-of-chechen-separatist

| url-status = live

}}

Krasikov's legal fees were paid by Pravfond, a Kremlin-linked legal defence foundation.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/02/revealed-russian-legal-defence-foundation-pravfond-europe |title=Revealed: Russian legal foundation linked to Kremlin activities in Europe |newspaper=The Guardian |last1=Roth |first1=Andrew |access-date=2 June 2024 |archive-date=6 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806073800/https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/02/revealed-russian-legal-defence-foundation-pravfond-europe |url-status=live }}

On 4 December 2019, the German Federal Foreign Office accused Russia of refusing to cooperate in the investigation of the Khangoshvili murder and expelled two Russian foreign office diplomatic employees working in Berlin.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/04/germany-expels-two-russians-over-killing-of-georgian-in-berlin|title=Germany expels two Russians over killing of Chechen separatist in Berlin|last=Oltermann|first=Philip|date=4 December 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=5 December 2019|archive-date=6 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806073901/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/04/germany-expels-two-russians-over-killing-of-georgian-in-berlin|url-status=live}} An official request for assistance in the case was submitted to Russia two days after the expulsion.{{Cite news|url=https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/hsb/georgier-mord-101.html|title=Tiergarten-Mord: Diplomaten zu eilig ausgewiesen?|trans-title=|last=Stuchlik|first=Stephan|date=20 December 2019|work=Tagesschau|publisher=ARD|access-date=26 December 2019|language=de|archive-date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223235911/https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/hsb/georgier-mord-101.html|url-status=live}} In response, Russia expelled two German diplomats on 12 December.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50755417|title=Berlin murder: Russia expels German diplomats amid dispute|publisher=BBC News|date=12 December 2019|access-date=16 December 2019|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624231445/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50755417|url-status=live}}

On 10 August 2020, the Slovak Foreign Ministry announced that three diplomats from the Russian embassy in Bratislava were to be expelled from the country by 13 August. Slovak authorities noted information provided by Slovak intelligence services that "[the diplomats'] activities were in contradiction with the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations," according to a Slovak foreign ministry spokesman. He also added that "there had been an abuse of visas issued at the Slovak general consulate in St Petersburg, and in this connection a serious crime was committed on the territory of another EU and NATO member state".{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53731235|title=Berlin murder: Slovakia to expel three Russian diplomats|publisher=BBC.com|date=10 August 2020|access-date=11 August 2020|archive-date=2 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102041713/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53731235|url-status=live}}

In December 2021, two Russian diplomats were expelled after a Berlin court determined that the murder was a state-ordered killing. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the murder a “grave breach of German law and the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Germany” and summoned Russia’s ambassador in Berlin to discuss the court’s conclusion.

At the end of July 2022, Russia demanded the release of imprisoned Russians in exchange for the release of two imprisoned US citizens. According to CNN, the Russian government demanded the release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had served 10 years of a 25-year federal prison sentence in the United States, and the convicted Russian assassin of Khangoshvili, Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany until the 2024 Russian prisoner exchange. The US requested the release of US basketball player Brittney Griner, imprisoned in Russia on minor drug charges and former US Marine Paul Whelan, serving 16 years in Russia for espionage. In July 2022, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Sergei Lavrov for the first time since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Blinken made an offer from the US to secure the release of Griner and Whelan. In December 2022, Griner was exchanged for Bout. According to the German television news programme Tagesschau, it was then unlikely that Krasikov would be returned to Russia.{{Cite web |last=tagesschau.de |title=Russland fordert Auslieferung des Tiergarten-Mörders |trans-title=Russia demands extradition of Tiergarten murderer |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/amerika/usa-russland-gefangenenaustausch-101.html |access-date=2022-07-30 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208230516/https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/amerika/usa-russland-gefangenenaustausch-101.html |url-status=live }}

Putin reiterated in a February 2024 interview that he desired Krasikov in return for imprisoned American Evan Gershkovich (accused of espionage). In the same interview, Putin accused Khangoshvili of running over the heads of Russian soldiers in a truck.{{Cite news |date=2024-02-09 |title=Tucker Carlson: Putin takes charge as TV host gives free rein to Kremlin |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68248740 |access-date=2024-02-09 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=9 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209183512/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68248740 |url-status=live }}

On 24 May 2024, DW News broadcast a piece which related that Alexei Navalny and Evan Gershkovich had in early 2024 almost been exchanged for Krasikov.{{cite news |title='A killer in the service of the Kremlin' Will Russia's assassin be exchanged? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3J2QB7FrsQ |agency=YouTube |publisher=DW News |date=24 May 2024}}

Family members of Paul Whelan, arrested in Russia in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges, have said that Whelan had initially been told that he had been arrested to be exchanged for a Russian prisoner in the United States, mentioning Konstantin Yaroshenko (who was later released in exchange for American Trevor Reed), Viktor Bout, or Roman Seleznev.{{cite news |author1=Rob Schmitz |author2=Miguel Macias |author3=Amy Isackson |date=April 28, 2022 |title=Trevor Reed came back home, but Paul Whelan is still imprisoned in Russia |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/04/28/1095365163/trevor-reed-came-back-home-but-paul-whelan-is-still-imprisoned-in-russia |access-date=16 July 2024 |publisher=NPR |archive-date=5 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805220132/https://www.npr.org/2022/04/28/1095365163/trevor-reed-came-back-home-but-paul-whelan-is-still-imprisoned-in-russia |url-status=live }}

In July 2024 rumors about a possible prisoner exchange rekindled when Belarus president pardoned Rico Krieger, who had been facing a death sentence.{{cn|date=August 2024}} The rumours appeared to be confirmed when an Antonov-148 tail number RA-61727, which had been used to exchange Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner, landed at Kaliningrad airport on 31 July.{{Cite web|url=https://english.nv.ua/nation/exchange-of-prisoners-a-plane-flew-from-moscow-which-can-hold-up-to-30-political-prisoners-50439361.html|title=Russian An-148 heads to Kaliningrad, sparking rumors of major prisoner swap|website=english.nv.ua|access-date=1 August 2024}}

On 1 August, Krasikov was freed in a large prisoner exchange with several European countries and the US, along with several other convicted Russian nationals, in exchange for the release of a number of prisoners in Russia and Belarus, including Russian dissidents and German nationals.{{Cite web |last=Kottasová |first=Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood, Ivana |date=2024-08-01 |title=US and Russia carrying out massive prisoner swap that is expected to include Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/01/politics/russia-us-prisoner-swap/index.html |access-date=2024-08-01 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=1 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240801142137/https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/01/politics/russia-us-prisoner-swap/index.html |url-status=live }} Vladimir Putin greeted Krasikov with a hug on the tarmac,{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-greets-russians-returning-moscow-after-prisoner-swap-news-agencies-say-2024-08-01|title=Putin welcomes Russians freed in prisoner swap as heroes loyal to the Motherland|website=Reuters }} and on 2 August the Kremlin officially recognized the assassin as an FSB operative.{{Cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/08/02/kremlin-says-krasikov-freed-by-germany-is-fsb-operative-a85916|title=Kremlin Says Krasikov, Freed by Germany, Is FSB Operative|date=2 August 2024|website=The Moscow Times|access-date=2 August 2024|archive-date=2 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240802153247/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/08/02/kremlin-says-krasikov-freed-by-germany-is-fsb-operative-a85916|url-status=live}} However, at least one of the prisoners involved in the prisoner exchange, Ilya Yashin, would condemn the fact that Krasikov was involved in the large prisoner exchange.{{cite news |last1=Hopkins |first1=Valerie |title=Russian Dissident Says He Was Traded Against His Will in Inmate Swap |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/02/world/europe/russian-dissident-involuntary-exile.html |access-date=26 September 2024 |work=The New York Times}}

• List of Russian assassinations
• Amina Okueva
• Sulim Yamadayev
• Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev
• Umar Israilov

{{Reflist}}

• [https://medium.com/dfrlab/pro-kremlin-sources-target-the-bbc-for-report-on-murdered-chechen-commander-7cf253117b7b Pro-Kremlin sources target the BBC for report on murdered Chechen commander. Russian officials, news sites, and social network users accused the BBC of glorifying Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, medium.com, 29 October 2019]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khangoshvili, Zelimkhan}}

Category:1979 births

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Category:Assassinated Chechen military personnel

Category:Assassinated people from Georgia (country)

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