German investigators unhappy with release of Russian agent Vadim Krasikov

German investigators unhappy with release of Russian agent Vadim Krasikov Dmitry Usik

Vadim Krasikov was exchanged to Russia/Collage 24 Channel

On Thursday, August 1, a major prisoner exchange took place between Russia and the West. In particular, Russian spy Vadim Krasikov was released as part of it.

German investigators are unhappy with the fact that Krasikov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a Georgian citizen in Berlin, was transferred.

Krasikov's exchange to Russia

The German government did not make this decision lightly. The state's interest in executing a convicted criminal's prison sentence was outweighed by the freedom, physical well-being and, in some cases, the lives of innocent people imprisoned in Russia, as well as those unjustly imprisoned for political reasons, said German government spokesman Steffen Gebestreit.

At the same time, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that there is disappointment in the Federal Attorney General's Office. There is “little understanding” among Germany's senior investigators, and the exchange is considered excessively accommodating towards Putin.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a speech that the decision to extradite Krasikov was difficult, but necessary to free German and US citizens. He also spoke of the need for further support for Ukraine.

It should be noted that Russia received a total of 8 people. In particular, the Dultsevs, who were imprisoned in Slovenia for espionage, Pavel Rubtsov, a GRU agent posing as Spanish journalist Pablo Gonzalez, and Roman Seleznev, a hacker convicted in the US, were returned to Moscow.