Russian national charged in Germany for murder of two Ukrainian soldiers

A Russian man who killed two Ukrainian soldiers in Germany this spring, while the servicemen were recovering after a surgery there, has been charged with murder.

As reported by Associated Press, the 57-year-old suspect, whose name is not being disclosed in accordance with German privacy rules, was arrested shortly after he stabbed Ukrainian soldiers in the small Bavarian town of Murnau on 27 April.

Munich prosecutors said the suspect and the two victims knew each other from previous encounters. On the day of the stabbings, the three men were drinking together and arguing about the situation in Ukraine, which, according to the prosecutor's office, "made the accused feel that his national pride had been hurt."

The suspect "decided to kill the two Ukrainians, who were heavily drunk, with a surprise attack" and brought a knife from his neighbouring apartment, law enforcement officials said.

One of the Ukrainians was killed immediately, and the other died later from his wounds.

The prosecutor's office said that "as a supporter of exaggerated Russian nationalism, [the suspect] unconditionally supports Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine."

The prosecutor's office said that the two Ukrainians were taken to Germany for treatment after being injured in the war. They were operated on in a hospital in Murnau and recovered in this city and had significant "physical limitations" after the operations.

Information about two men with serious injuries in Murnau was received around 17:20 on Saturday, 27 April. One of them had died by the time the medics arrived. The second, who was also seriously injured, died in the hospital shortly afterwards.  

A preventive measure was then imposed on the 57-year-old Russian. Reports indicate that he was drunk.