MOSCOW. Aug 28 (Interfax) - The Kremlin fully denies any link between the recent murder in Berlin, of which a Russian citizen is suspected, and the Russian state, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
"Naturally, this case has no relation to the Russian state and its official bodies. You'd better ask the Foreign Ministry who was a Russian citizen there and whether there were any [Russian] citizens. But I flatly deny any link between this incident, this murder, and official Russia," Peskov told journalists on Wednesday.
The Berlin prosecutor's office said last Friday that a 48-year-old Russian man had been arrested on suspicion of killing a Georgian citizen.
German newspaper Bild reported that the victim was a Chechen native who "fought against the Russian troops during the Chechen war." "He is identified as a terrorist in Russia. German law enforcement agencies believe him to be an Islamist," it said, adding that the victim's name was Zelimkhan.
The family of the victim said unidentified criminals tried to poison him in 2009, and there was an attempt on his life in a shooting incident in Georgia in 2015. Following this, he sought asylum in Germany and used fake IDs under various names. He was denied asylum.
The suspected killer allegedly said whilst detained that he wanted to talk to a representative of the Russian embassy, Bild reported. Powered pepper was found in his bag, and investigators say they believe that he was attempting to foil sniffer dogs with it. The suspect fired the shots whilst riding a bicycle then dropped his gun and bike in the nearby river. Police arrested him while he was changing his clothes in some bushes.
The Russian man is currently being held in pre-trial custody.