Decision to release FSB hitman 'not taken lightly'

The German government said it did not take the decision to release a jailed FSB hitman lightly, as it confirmed its involvement in a historic prisoner exchange between Russia and the west.

- Deborah Cole

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's spokesperson, Steffen Hebestreit, said the deal - involving the release of Vadim Krasikov, convicted in Germany for murder - had been arranged "in close and trusting cooperation with the United States and European partners", making it possible "to secure the release of 15 people who were unlawfully detained in Russia and a German national [Rico Krieger] who had been sentenced to death in Belarus".

Hebestreit said their liberation was "only possible by deporting Russian nationals with a background in intelligence who were in prison in Europe and transferring them to Russia". He confirmed that among them was Krasikov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany after murdering a Georgian citizen in a Berlin park.