How Russian agents hunt down Putin's enemies

An investigation shows an elite team of Russian soldiers is deployed for 'sabotage, subversion and assassinations' to eliminate Vladimir Putin's enemies across Europe.

People hold portraits of former militant Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in front of the German embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia after he was shot dead in Berlin in August. EPA

Maik Baumgärtner

Jan 18, 2020 – 12.00am

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In the summer of 2013, a killer in Moscow rode a bicycle towards his victim. The Russian businessman Albert Nazranov saw him, and a short brawl ensued. The killer shot the man in the head and upper body at close range. Then he rode away. All of that can be seen in surveillance footage of the crime.

In the summer of 2019, a killer also rode a bicycle toward his victim, only this time in Berlin. He shot Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, of Georgia, in the head and upper body at close range, before riding away. That's how witnesses described the scene.

Der Spiegel