He was the first to step off the plane in Moscow — to be embraced by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Vadim Krasikov, known in Germany as the "Tiergarten murderer," was on the list of Russian citizens convicted of crimes in the West who were released as part of the prisoner swap on Thursday.

On more than one occasion, Moscow and the West have exchanged spies, traitors, double agents and economic criminals. But Krasikov is a murderer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany. The Kremlin on Friday admitted that he was a member of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

Putin made clear on several occasions that the Kremlin was particularly interested in bringing Krasikov back to Russia. In an interview with the US journalist Tucker Carlson in early February, for example, the Russian president made a clear reference to Krasikov when he spoke of "a person [who], due to patriotic sentiments, eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals." 

So who exactly is Vadim Krasikov?

'Tiergarten murder' in the heart of Berlin

On August 23, 2019, Krasikov committed a murder in broad daylight in a small Berlin park — the Kleiner Tiergarten, a short walk from the German parliament. His victim, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, was a Georgian citizen and former Chechen field commander who had fought in wars against Russia. Russia considered him a terrorist and had put him on its most-wanted list. Khangoshvili sought asylum in Germany following an attempt on his life in Georgia in 2015.

Riding a bicycle, Krasikov approached Khangoshvili from behind, then, in front of several witnesses, he pulled out a silenced pistol and shot his victim three times. Authorities arrested the murderer minutes later thanks to passers-by who spotted him throwing his bicycle in the Spree River, changing clothes in the undergrowth and removing a wig. He was found in possession of a Russian passport issued in the name of Vadim Sokolov, with a Schengen visa from the French Embassy in Russia and a pistol that still held nine out of 15 bullets.

Difficult investigation, lengthy trial

German investigators uncovered the murderer's true identity more or less by chance. In 2014, Russian authorities provided a photo to their foreign colleagues at Interpol, asking for their help in locating one Vadim Krasikov. At the time, he was suspected of murdering a businessman in Russia.

Meanwhile, investigations by the online journalism collective Bellingcat revealed that no one corresponding to the name and personal details in Sokolov's passport had existed in either the Russian domestic passport registry or the lists of the Russian Federal Tax Service until they appeared in both databases just a few weeks before Khangoshvili's murder. A witness testified that only intelligence agencies would be able to create an avatar of a non-existent person.

Krasikov's trial began on October 7, 2020, in the Berlin Regional Court, and lasted 14 months. He was found guilty on December 15, 2021, and sentenced to life imprisonment without automatic parole. The court considered it proven that Krasikov killed Khangoshvili on the orders of the Russian authorities.

Krasikov as a candidate for exchange

After the verdict was announced, Germany's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, declared: "This state-sponsored murder — as determined by the court today — represents a serious violation of German law and German sovereignty."

The German government responded by expelling two people attached to the Russian Embassy in Berlin.

However, just six months after the verdict, in July 2022, information surfaced in the US press that Russia was demanding Krasikov's inclusion in exchange for US citizens imprisoned in Russia. At that time, one of the prisoners in question was the US basketball player Brittney Griner. She was later exchanged for the Russian citizen Viktor Bout, who was serving a prison sentence in the US for arms trafficking.

The name Vadim Krasikov also came up in connection with attempts to secure the release of the Russian opposition leader and fierce Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. After Navalny's death in a penal colony in February, his colleague Maria Pevchikh stated: "Navalny should have been released within days, as we had reached a decision on his exchange. In early February, Putin was offered the FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a prison sentence in Berlin for murder, in exchange for two US citizens and Alexei Navalny."

Crucial change in German criminal law

For many in Germany, talk of the possibility of exchanging Krasikov for a prisoner being held in Russia sounded like pure fantasy, especially as the man in question was not a spy or traitor, but a convicted murderer. Furthermore, the German court's verdict ruled out any possibility of early release due to the "especially serious aggravating circumstances" of the crime.

But Section 456a of Germany's Code of Criminal Procedure permits the release of a criminal convicted by a German court, regardless of crime or sentence, if they are "deported or removed from or refused entry to" German territory.

Disappointment at the Federal Prosecutor's Office

This means that if it is decided, under the law governing the right of residence of foreign nationals in Germany, that a convicted felon should be deported, the executing authority can overrule their sentence. The executing authority in this case is the Chief Federal Prosecutor, who, as a political official, is obliged to carry out official orders. This procedure has been used in Germany in the past for the exchange of spies.

Nonetheless, the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Thursday evening that there was "disappointment" in the Federal Prosecutor's Office over Justice Minister Marco Buschmann's decision in the Krasikov case. While it was in accordance with the law, the paper reported that there was not much understanding for it at the office.

"In a case involving a convicted murderer, of all people, 'power' has prevailed," the paper wrote. "The decision does not take the relatives of the murdered victim into account. Too much leniency is being shown to Russia's president Vladimir Putin."

On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov finally admitted that Krasikov is a serving officer of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), and hinted that he was linked to Putin's personal guard. This is tantamount to an acknowledgment that the murder of Khangoshvili was indeed a state-sponsored hit.

This article was originally written in Russian.