Russian arrested in fatal stabbing of Ukrainian soldiers in Germany

Authorities have detained a 57-year-old man on suspicion of perpetrating the killings

Two citizens of Ukraine have been killed in a knife attack at a shopping center in Bavaria, Germany over the weekend, according to the local police department. The victims were military personnel on medical leave, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry confirmed in a press release on Sunday.

Bavarian police responded to a report of “two seriously injured men” at the mall in Murnau, Burggraben shortly after 5pm local time on Saturday.

One of the victims died from his severe injuries before the emergency services arrived at the scene, while the second was found alive but later succumbed to his wounds at a nearby hospital. Authorities identified them only as “Ukrainian citizens aged 23 and 36,” both living locally.

Police quickly tracked down the main suspect, named as a 57-year-old “Russian national,” in a press release on Saturday. He was detained later that evening at his residence nearby, and served a warrant for his arrest for double murder. The motive was not immediately clear.

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The two victims were “military personnel undergoing medical rehabilitation in Germany,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a press statement on Sunday.

The suspect and victims likely knew each other, according to local news reports. One witness told BR24 that they were friends, and had recently been drinking beer together.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann confirmed there are testimonies that the Russian and the two Ukrainians have been seen with each other before.

“There is evidence that a lot of alcohol was at play with all involved,” Herrmann said, adding that currently, authorities have “no compelling indication that this would be, so to speak, a reflection of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”