2024-05-01 06:08:46
German prosecutors said today that they are not ruling out a political motive in the investigation of a Russian citizen arrested on suspicion of stabbing two Ukrainian soldiers over the weekend, Reuters reported.
The Ukrainian servicemen, who are in southern Germany recuperating, were found with severe stab wounds outside a shopping center in the Upper Bavarian town of Murnau on Saturday evening, police said. One of them, aged 36, died at the scene and the other, aged 23, died of his wounds in hospital.
Shortly after the murder, the police detained a 57-year-old Russian citizen on suspicion of murder. According to initial data, the three men knew each other.
“The motive for the crime is currently unclear, although a political motivation cannot be ruled out and is being investigated in all directions,” said the chief prosecutor’s office in Munich, which took over the case, as quoted by BTA.
Ukrainian consuls are clarifying information about the military units in which the victims served and establishing contact with their families, the Ukrainian government said in a statement.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has instructed the Consulate General in Munich to monitor the case and liaise with German law enforcement authorities, the text said.
Earlier today, a German government spokesman declined to comment on the case, saying the police investigation was ongoing. The Russian embassy did not respond to a request for comment, Reuters noted.
Residents of Murnau today mourned the dead by laying flowers and placing Ukrainian flags on a makeshift memorial.
In a separate case, two people, with dual German and Russian citizenship, were arrested in Germany in April on suspicion of plotting sabotage attacks, including against military installations, in what authorities described as an attempt to undermine military support for Ukraine, notes Reuters.