Police confirm death of 9-year-old Ukrainian girl in Germany: murder suspected

German police have officially confirmed that a dead person found in a forest is a 9-year-old girl from Ukraine who had been missing for a week.

As reported by Bild, at a press conference in Chemnitz, the police confirmed that the body found the day before in a forest near Döbeln in Saxony (Germany, part of the Mittelsachsen district) was that of missing 9-year-old Ukrainian girl Valeriia, who had been missing since 3 June after she went to school and disappeared.

"Valeriia was the victim of a crime. We are investigating it as a murder," said police chief Carsten Kempf. 

The police said that the victim was found far from the trails she had left, in an inaccessible area with low vegetation. Investigators believe that this was the murder scene. 

The body was examined at the Leipzig Institute of Criminal Expertise. 

"After the examination and autopsy, there were no signs that the girl was a victim of sexual violence," said Ingrid Burkhard, Senior Public Prosecutor of Chemnitz. 

Law enforcement officers involved in the search have interviewed about 400 people in the area in recent days and checked the whereabouts of people who have previously committed sexual offences. So far, no suspects have been identified. 

"Our investigation is currently focused on the immediate circle of acquaintances of the family," the prosecutor said. 

It was reported that Valeria came from Dnipro Oblast and has been living in Germany with her mother since 2022. Her parents are divorced, and her father serves in Ukraine's defence forces.

Valeria was reported missing by her mother after the girl did not return home at the usual time. Law enforcement officials launched an investigation against the school administration, which reported the girl's absence with a delay.

On 11 June, a 41-year-old Ukrainian woman was injured in the German city of Frankfurt am Main after an Afghan man attacked her with a knife.

In March, a high-profile murder of a young Ukrainian woman and her mother took place in Germany, which is suspected to have been plotted to kidnap the woman's baby.