German federal prosecutors accused Russia on Thursday of ordering the killing of a former Chechen rebel in Berlin last summer and indicted a Russian man for the murder, which has severely strained diplomatic ties.
German investigators have gathered enough evidence to accuse the Russian man, identified only as Vadim K., of the murder as well as the illegal possession of a weapon, prosecutors said.
"The accused accepted the order from state authorities to kill. He either hoped for a financial reward or shared the motive of the order-givers to kill a political opponent and thereby retaliate for participating in previous conflicts with Russia," they said in a statement.
The dead man, identified in the statement as Tornike K., a Georgian citizen, was shot dead in a Berlin park last August as he was heading to a mosque. The killer had been on a bicycle.