A 35-year-old diplomat is said to have fallen on the street, from one of the top floors of the Russian embassy in Berlin. The circumstances surrounding the death are unclear.
—
He was found dead, lying on the sidewalk outside the embassy.
German police discovered the Russian diplomat’s lifeless body at 07.20, October 19 this year. Attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful.
The man probably fell from one of the upper floors of the Russian embassy building, writes the German the news magazine Der Spiegel. It is not clear if the man was dead before he fell.
The death was not known until Friday. In the meantime, the body will be transported back to Russia.
Found dead at the back of the building
The Russian Embassy in Berlin is located in the middle of the city, facing the parade street Unter den Linden. The embassy is built in monumental style, just after World War II.
The dead diplomat was found at the back of the building, which faces Behrenstrasse. He turned 35 years old and had been registered as a Russian diplomat in Germany since the summer of 2019. The official title was Second Embassy Secretary.
However, there are many indications that the man had another job as well. Der Spiegel writes that German authorities believe the man worked for the Russian intelligence service FSB. The English-language grave site Bellingcat also has identified the man. According to Bellingcat, he is a close relative of a senior Russian intelligence officer.
Was transported home
The body of the diplomat was not autopsied, according to Der Spiegel. The Russian Foreign Ministry is said to have opposed it.
In German security circles, the cause of death is described as unknown, the newspaper writes. The news magazine will also have sources on the body has been transported back to Russia.
“A tragic accident,” the Russian embassy told German media.
The embassy can say no more for “ethical reasons”, it is said.
A dreaded organization
Russian intelligence services have gained a very bad reputation in Western countries in recent years.
Agents from Russia are accused of being behind several high-profile attacks.
In the summer of 2019, a man was shot, in the middle of the day in the Tiergarten park in Berlin. German police believe Russian agents were behind it.
The man was named Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, and was a former officer in the Georgian army. Among other things, he had taken part in the war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. Russian authorities thought Khangoshvili was a terrorist.
On March 4, 2018, the former Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal was attempted killed in his home in the United Kingdom. In 2006, he was convicted of espionage in favor of Britain, in a court in Moscow. Skripal was extradited along with three others in a barter deal in 2010. Eight years later, he was nevertheless subjected to an assassination attempt, with the nerve agent Novitsjok. Both Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia were poisoned, but survived. A British woman later died after being exposed to the poison.
British authorities accused Russia of being behind the assassination attempt.
In the summer of 2020, Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was poisoned. He became acutely ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow, but survived. Navalny was also poisoned by the neurotoxin Novitsjok. He himself believes that it was the FSB that was behind it.
–
