The German Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador and declared two Russian diplomats personae non gratae and insisted that they leave the country in connection with the sentencing of Russian citizen Vadim Sokolov. The man was found guilty of killing a Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, but Germany believes he acted on orders from the Russian government.
"This murder on state orders, as was established by the court today, constitutes a grave violation of German law and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Germany. We therefore summoned the Russian ambassador for a conversation", Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.
Baerbock added that Germany wants to build relations with Russia based on mutual respect and respect for international laws. The murder of the Georgian citizen by the alleged Russian assassin undermines efforts to achieve this, she added.
The Russian Embassy in Berlin has expressed a "strong protest" against Germany's decision to expel two diplomats.
The German foreign minister's statements come after the German High Court found Vadim Sokolov guilty of killing Khangoshvili two-and-a-half years ago in the Berlin park Kleiner Tiergarten. The court said that Sokolov's real name was Vadim Krasikov and that he allegedly worked for the Russian special services.
According to the court's ruling, he killed Khangoshvili on the orders of the Russian government. Moscow strongly denies the notion that it ordered a hit on the Georgian citizen and pointed out the lack of evidence in the case.
Russia's ambassador in Berlin called the case "politically motivated" and that the ruling is an obvious "hostile act, which will not go unanswered".
Khangoshvili was a commander of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria - a militant group in Russia's south, which fought against the country's government in the Second Chechen War, and committed numerous war crimes, kidnappings and robberies in the process. Khangoshvili himself managed to flee Russia after the war and was considered a terrorist by its Federal Security Service (FSB).