Russian diplomat found dead in Berlin
A Russian diplomat was found dead near the embassy building in Berlin, Der Spiegel reported, citing sources in German intelligence and security forces.
The body of a 35-year-old man was discovered on the morning of October 19 by German police officers responsible for guarding an area around the Russian diplomatic buildings a few hundred meters from the Brandenburg Gate.
Medics who arrived at the scene were unable to resuscitate him, and the police concluded that he probably "fell out of the window" of one of the upper floors of the embassy.
The incident was not made public for more than two weeks, and the cause of teh diplomat’s death is still not clear. The building where the body was found has only 4 floors, and the Russian embassy did not agree to an autopsy, calling the death a "tragic accident".
According to German intelligence agencies, the deceased held the post of second secretary of the embassy since the summer of 2019, while also being an agent of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
The man was a relative of a high-ranking employee of the Department for the Protection of the Constitutional Order and The Fight against Terrorism of the FSB, which, among other things, is responsible for the fight against "internal political threats". Western intelligence agencies associate it with the murder of former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin.
The official representative of the German Foreign Ministry, Christopher Burger, confirmed the death of the diplomat, but refused to give details, citing the protection of personal data.
The German prosecutor's office was unable to investigate because the deceased had diplomatic status.