Murderous track record of Putin's exchanged hitman Vadim Krasikov leads to Karelia

Vadim Krasikov was greeted by Vladimir Putin as he landed on Russian soil on the 1st of August following the exchange of 26 prisoners. The 58 years old agent came back to the motherland after five years in a German jail for the killing of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former army commander in the Chechen Republic of Ichekeria.

“Great to see you,” Putin intimately said to Krasikov as he came down the aircraft boarding stair in  the Vnukovo airport. He hugged him, as if they were old friends.

From the Russian side, the swap included eight spies and agents arrested in Europe and the USA, among them Mikhail Mikushin, who had spied on Norway. On the other end, a total of 18 people were released, among them journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmansheva.

An investigation conducted by the Barents Observer in cooperation with Sever.Realii shows that Vadim Krasikov is behind not only the killing of Khangoshvili, but also most likely of two men in Russia. Among them is Yuri Kozlov, a local politician and businessman from the northern region of Karelia. 

The body of Kozlov was found in a forest near the border to Finland in fall 2007. Ahead of the killing, locals in the town of Kostomuksha had seen Vadim Krasikov and two more hitmen in the area. An eyewitness even saw the three men throw objects, among them what turned out to be a pistol holster, in a local river.

Kozlov and co-perpetrators Oleg Ivanov and Vladimir Fomenko were ultimately wanted by Russian police. In 2014, the latter two were arrested. Meanwhile, Kozlov was wanted also for another murder in Moscow.

Nevertheless, Ivanov and Foment were already in 2015 released from jail and Kozlov removed from the police wanted lists. Few years later Krasikov was caught by German police after the killing of Khangoshvili in downtown Berlin.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Barents Observer has talked with the brother of Yuri Kozlov.

Aleksandr Kozlov still lives in Karelia and remains bitter for the killing of his brother. He does not want to condemn Krasikov for the killing in Berlin, but wants him to be convicted for the slaughter of his brother.

“This man has blood on his arm up to the elbow, and he was involved in quite other affairs here [than in Berlin], including the killing of my brother. At least he is one of the suspects,” Kozlov says.

“He should be convicted and punished for what he committed here,” he underlines.

Kozlov does however want to criticise Putin or Russian authorities for the warm reception of Krasikov following the prisoner swap.

What did you feel when you saw that Putin gave him a hug?

“Well, should he have passed by, or what? The President did what a President should do. He met them, he hugged not only him, but also greeted everyone else, and gave flowers to the women. Biden and Harris also greeted theirs as heroes. That is, there are no questions here, this is official policy, for God’s sake.”

What is happening now with the criminal case? Do you know anything about the fate of the other two suspects - Fomenko and Ivanov?

“When it turned out that the case from the Karelian Investigative Committee was taken to Moscow, it was a surprise for me. Because in Karelia, investigators said that everything was clear: these two who were caught should be imprisoned, and it would be desirable to find Krasikov. And then the case was taken away. This Krasikov was wanted, but in 2015 they removed him from the wanted list, because the special services probably had their own plans for this person.”

Kozlov says he wrote a letter addressed to Aleksandr Bastrykin, the Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee

“He told me that there is not enough evidence, so the investigation will continue. In general, it was a letter without substance. Then, when Krasikov was caught in Germany, I once again contacted the Investigative Committee of Russia, but they did not answer me anything sensible.”

The brother of the killed Karelian politician and businessman underlines that he has not given up and that he continues to seek justice for the killers.