Germany's Der Spiegel magazine revealed Friday that German authorities believe the body of a Russian diplomat found on the sidewalk outside the Embassy in Berlin last month was a secret agent of Russian intelligence agencies. The body of the 35-year-old diplomat was found on the morning of Oct. 19, and according to der spiegel, he apparently fell from the upper floors of the Russian embassy in the German capital, though it is unclear why he fell and the cause of his death.
The diplomat is believed to be Kirill Zhalo.
The death had not been reported before, and according to Der Spiegel, local police found the body near the embassy on October 19, and first responders were unable to rescue it. The news agency reported that German security services were not yet sure of the cause of death, and the Russian Embassy had not approved an autopsy.
Der Spiegel and bellingcat, a well-known open-source investigative agency, revealed that the dead diplomat has been seen as a second-class secretary at the Russian Embassy in Berlin since 2019, but German security officials believe he is an undercover official of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's domestic security and counterintelligence agency, and he is believed to have a relationship with a senior official of the Russian Federal Security Service.
According to Der Spiegel and Bellingcat, Western intelligence agencies had previously linked the Russian Federal Security Service to the 2019 murder of a Georgian exile shot in a Berlin park, which the Kremlin denied had any connection to the Russian government.
According to der spiegel on Friday, the Russian embassy did not agree to an autopsy on the diplomat, whose diplomatic immunity meant German prosecutors could not conduct an investigation. After der Spiegel's disclosure, Russian and German officials acknowledged the diplomat's death on Friday.
The Russian Embassy said in a statement: "On October 19, 2021, a tragic accident occurred to a Russian diplomat. All the formalities related to the repatriation of the diplomat's remains have been promptly resolved with the responsible German law enforcement and medical authorities, in accordance with current practice", "We believe that in the context of this tragic event, some Western media speculation is completely wrong." ”
A spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry told CNN that the German government was aware of the diplomat's death, but "for the personal protection of the persons concerned and their relatives, no further details will be disclosed at this time." ”
Investigative news outlet Bellingcat also cited leaked databases to confirm that the agent was the son of a senior official in the Russian Federal Security Service(FSB) who was deputy director of the intelligence agency's second service. A Russian opposition newspaper said the diplomat was named Kirill Zhalo and said his father was a senior general in the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
Kirill zhalo
Russia's second service, the second service, is accused of plotting assassinations overseas, including the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in 2019. The former Chechen rebel commander, a Georgian citizen, was killed in Berlin. Other targets of the second service include Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who nearly died in a poisoning attack in 2020, though Russia has denied being behind both attacks.
According to bellingcat, the diplomat arrived in Berlin two months before Hangeshvili was murdered. There is reportedly no evidence of a link between the two incidents. Prior to that, the diplomat was sent to the Russian United Nations mission in Vienna.