After the murder of two Ukrainians in front of a shopping center in Murnau, Upper Bavaria, the government in Kiev commented on the crime. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba thanked the German investigators for the quick arrest of the suspect. According to the ministry, the victims were Ukrainian soldiers who were in Germany for medical rehabilitation.
The suspect, who was arrested after a short search, is now in custody. The police headquarters in Upper Bavaria South announced this on Sunday. Accordingly, an investigating judge issued an arrest warrant when the man was brought before him at the request of the Munich II public prosecutor’s office. The 57-year-old Russian is accused of two counts of murder.
The accused was taken to a correctional facility immediately after the decision. The police are currently unable to provide any information about the background to the crime or the motive, the statement said.
Russian suspect arrested after manhunt
According to police, emergency services were alerted late on Saturday afternoon after two people were found with serious stab wounds on the shopping center premises. When rescue workers arrived, one victim, a 36-year-old man, had already died. The other victim, a 23-year-old man, was resuscitated on site and taken to a clinic, but also died from his serious injuries there. The two deceased are Ukrainians and lived in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district.
The perpetrator initially fled, said a police spokesman. During the search that was launched immediately, the Russian suspect was arrested in his apartment near the crime scene.
Background unclear – was alcohol involved?
According to the police, it is still unclear whether the three men knew each other and whether there was a dispute in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. “The investigation is ongoing, but we still need some time,” the spokesman said on Sunday. To clarify the crime, the Garmisch-Partenkirchen criminal police are asking witnesses for information.
The day after the crime, Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said: “There are witness statements that the three people involved had already been seen together before. There are indications that a lot of alcohol was involved for everyone involved. This all needs to be clarified . At the moment we have no compelling indication that this is, so to speak, a reflection of the dispute between Russia and Ukraine.” According to Free Voters parliamentary group leader Florian Streibl, such a move would also be a “catastrophe for the region”. “It must not be the case that this conflict takes place here in the Oberland,” said Streibl.