Draft:Vadim Krasikov (intelligence officer)

Vadim Nikolaevich Krasikov (born August 10, 1965 ) is a Russian intelligence officer sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for contract killing. He acted under the name Vadim Sokolov.

Investigation and Trial
Vadim Krasikov was born in the village of Kenestobe, Kazakh SSR. He served in the special forces. Krasikov lived in Irkutsk and Moscow. He was married twice, and has three children.

Krasikov's second wife Ekaterina Alexandova was born in Kharkov. Her relatives living in Ukraine provided the investigation with a number of photographs that helped identify Krasikov, and her sister's husband was a witness at his trial. He stated that Krasikov appeared to be a military man, and his wife was alleged to have seen him with an ID card as an employee of the FSB. He was supposed to be the rank of colonel.

In 2014, Krasikov was placed on Interpol's wanted list as a suspect in connection with a murder; in 2015 the warrant was withdrawn, but Krasikov's photograph was preserved in the Interpol database and used to identify him. According to independent investigators, the reason for the search was the murder of businessman Albert Nazranov that occured in Moscow on January 19, 2013, to whom the killer approached while riding a bicycle.

Murders
In 2007, Krasikov and his two accomplices, active FSB officers, shot and killed the head of the Society of Entrepreneurs and city deputy of Kostomuksha. In 2014, the accomplices were detained. Krasikov was also the main suspect in the murder of businessman Albert Nazarov of Nalchik, who was shot in Moscow on the night of January 19, 2013.

In 2019, using documents bearing the name of Vadim Sokolov, Krasikov entered France, where he moved through Poland to Berlin. On August 23, 2019, Krasikov bicycled behind Zemlikhan Khangoshvili, who participated in the Second Chechen War as a field commander and then moved to Germany, and fired three shots from a pistol. Khangoshvili was killed on the spot. Krasikov then threw his pistol and bicycle into the waters of the Spree River, took off his wig, and quickly changed his clothes. However, two teenagers who noticed his suspicious actions called the police and Krasikov was detained.

In December 2019, the investigation of the crime was transferred to the Federal Prosecutor's Office of Germany. The press noted that this usually happens in cases where it is believed that foreign intelligence services were involved in a crime.

On October 7th 2020, the trial began in the Berlin Higher Regional Court. The representative of the Federal Prosecutor's Office, Ronald Georg, stated that the murder occurred at the instruction from Russian state authorities. Following the results of the trial the hearing judge, Olaf Arnoldi, came to the same conclusion. On December 15, 2021, he stated:"The Russian Federation's motives were revenge and retribution. In addition, such a crime should be a signal to the public... This is nothing more than state terrorism."Throughout the trial, Krasikov insisted that he really was Vadim Sokolov, a civil engineer from Bryansk.

Exchange Attempts
According to the Wall Street Journal, Putin had asked Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev to "explore the possibility of exchanging prisoners to free Krasikov" prior to his sentencing. Later, citing sources in Western governments, the publication reported on behind-the-scenes negotiations that Russia was conducting with the West to return Krasikov to Russia.

In July of 2022, the Russian Federation asked to include Krasikov to the exchange list. American authorities supported the request, but Germany did not agree due to the gravity of his crime. In December of 2022, the Russian Federation attempted to exchange Krasikov for American Paul Whalen to no avail.

According to the Wall Street Journal, officials in several countries believed that a multilateral deal to exchange Russian citizens detained in Western countries for Western citizens held in Russia, as well as Russian dissidents such as Alexei Navalny, was possible. In a 2024 interview with Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the desirability of exchanging Krasikov, saying that "this man, for patriotic reasons, eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals".

According to a journalist of BILD in Russian, Filipp Pyatov, Russia took part in negotiations between Germany and the United States on the exchange of Krasikov for Paul Whelan, Alexei Navalny, and journalist Evan Gershkovich. However, no officials from any of the countries confirmed such negotiations. German and American media outlets, citing anonymous sources, reported that the negotiations did take place but sources differed on the stage of the negotiations. After the publication of Maria Pevchik's statement that Navalny was to be exchanged for Krasikov, Reuters, citing an anonymous sources in political circles of Russia, reported that Navalny and his wife Yulia were allegedly aware of such negotiations and agreed to the exchange of Alexi for Krasikov. Althought Navalny himself never stated this during his lifetime and did not appear to be aware of such negotiations, and his wife also did not confirm the circumstances cited in the Reuters report. Later Politico, which spoke with two high-ranking American officials, reported that negotiations regarding the possible exchange of Navalny for Krasikov were conducted purely between the United States and Germany. No proposal was sent to Russia in this regard, even and unofficial one, and the Pevchikhs' statement of the approval of some exchange plan is not true. On March 7, 2024, Vladimir Putin said shortly before Navalny's death that he [Putin] was informed that there was an idea to exchange Navalny for some Russian citizens held in Western countries to which he approved; the next day, Dmitry Peskov clarified that no official negotiations were held on this issue and no deal was concluded, and Putin only agreed to the very idea of such an exchange.

Connection With the FSB
From a joint investigation by The Insider, Bellingcat, and Der Spiegel, it appears that Krasikov served in the FSB special forces Vympel and, together with two special forces partners, participated in at least two contract killings in Russia.

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Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Germany Category:Russian murderers Category:Russian spies Category:Living people Category:1965 births Category:Contract killers