Russian Secret Service Behind Georgian Murder in Berlin. The FSB, the Russian secret service, has organised the murder of Georgian Zelimkhan Khangoshvili.
This was announced on Monday by research organisation Bellingcat after months of research in collaboration with the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel and the Russian website The Insider.
In August last year, the 40-year-old Chechen with Georgian nationality was shot dead in Berlin. He fought during the second Chechen war against Russia and had close ties with former Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov, who was murdered by the FSB in 2005.
According to Bellingcat, Eduard Bendersky, chairman of a particular elite unit within the FSB, directly supervised the preparations for the murder.
The “centre of superior operations” of the FSB also provided essential support for the operation; the perpetrator was trained and received false identity papers.
Earlier indications emerged of the involvement of Russian secret services in the murder of the Georgian. The Kremlin denies any involvement of official Russian authorities in the murder.