Germany Kremlin confirms: "Tiergarten murderer" is FSB agent

For the first time, the Kremlin has directly confirmed that the "Tiergarten murderer" released in the course of Thursday's prisoner exchange is an agent of the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB. Vadim Krassikov had worked in the FSB's "Alpha" unit, which specializes in counter-terrorism operations.

"What is interesting is that when he served in "Alpha", he worked with some employees of the Presidential Security Service," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies. "Of course they greeted each other yesterday when they saw each other," he said, referring to Krasikov and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Putin had embraced the murderer, who had been convicted in Germany, on Thursday evening after his arrival in Russia and said: "Nice." According to the verdict, Krasikov had treacherously shot a Georgian of Chechen descent in Berlin on August 23, 2019 on behalf of Russian state authorities. Getting him released was of particular interest to Putin.

Russia had previously officially denied having anything to do with the man. Putin merely described him as a patriot who had eliminated a Russian enemy of the state in Berlin. However, the Turkish secret service MIT, which played a key role in the prisoner exchange on Thursday, had previously made Krassikov's FSB identity public. The German authorities also had no doubt that the contract killer was in Putin's service.

Putin, himself an ex-FSB chief, had welcomed the released Russians, including Krassikov and a couple from Slovenia convicted of espionage, at Moscow airport with a red carpet and presidential guard. Putin, who was accompanied by Defense Minister Andrei Beloussov, FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov and foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin, praised the steadfastness of the criminals convicted in the West and announced awards and a new "use" for them.