27 October 2021, 09:02
Witness identifies person accused of killing Khangoshvili
The man accused of killing Zelimkhan Khangoshvili is Vadim Krasikov, an agent of Russian special services, who had been a member of Vladimir Putin's inner circle, a Krasikov's relative stated on October 26, during his second testimony at a Berlin court. He explained that earlier he had not identified Krasikov out of fear.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 29, Alexander V., a businessman from Kharkov, the husband of Vadim Krasikov's sister, stated in the Berlin court that Krasikov had worked for a "sabotage unit of the Russian Armed Forces." Then, the witness stated that the defendant accused of killing Zelimkhan Khangoshvili resembles Krasikov, but was unable to confidently identify him. As Alexander V. explained in his interview with The Insider*, Bellingcat and Der Spiegel, his reluctance to identify Vadim Krasikov as the person accused of killing Zelimkhan Khangoshvili had to do with fears for his personal safety. Lawyers found it possible to hold a new interrogation of the witness in Khangoshvili's murder case.
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was killed in Berlin on August 23, 2019. One of the two detainees was charged with the murder and arms trafficking. According to the German Prosecutor's Office, the defendant "acted on behalf of the Russian government" and committed the murder either for a reward or because he shared the customer's motives.
After the interview with the witness (Alexander Vodorez) appeared in Der Spiegel, the court again invited him to Berlin for testifying, the Deutsche Welle has reported.
At the October 26 court session in Berlin, the Ukrainian witness identified the Russian accused of killing Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former Chechen field commander. The witness, Alexander (Vodorez), stated that this is the husband of his wife's sister, Vadim Nikolaevich K. (Krasikov), the Deutsche Welle has explained.
The witness said that he got acquainted with Vadim Krasikov in 2010. According to his story, the defendant had personally known Vladimir Putin and even was among his inner circle of his acquaintances, in particular, met him at the shooting range.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 26, 2021 at 09:15 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: The Caucasian Knot
