Russian diplomat found dead in front of embassy building in Berlin

BERLIN

A Russian diplomat, who was allegedly connected to Russia's FSB secret service, was found dead on the sidewalk in front of the embassy building in Berlin, local media reported Friday.

Berlin police discovered the body of the unnamed 35-year-old Russian diplomat on the sidewalk in front of the embassy complex in Berlin on Oct. 19 at around 7.20 a.m. (0620GMT), weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported.

Resuscitation attempts by rescue workers were unsuccessful.

The man fell from an upper floor of the embassy building located in Berlin's Mitte district, according to the report.

Reacting to the deadly incident, Foreign Ministry’s deputy spokesman Christofer Burger told journalists in Berlin he was aware of the case but he could not say anything, citing privacy reasons.

According to an official list of diplomats, the diplomat had been accredited as the embassy’s second secretary in Berlin since summer 2019.

German security authorities, however, regarded him as an undercover employee of the Russian domestic intelligence agency FSB (Federal Security Service) which is responsible, among other things, for the fight against terrorism and is linked by Western intelligence services to the so-called Tiergarten Murder, in which an exiled Georgian was shot dead in broad daylight in Berlin in the summer of 2019.

According to reports, officials from the second service of the FSB were also involved in the poison attack on Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny in 2020.

According to Der Spiegel, the circumstances of the alleged fall and the cause of death of the Russian diplomat were "unknown".

Since the deceased had diplomatic status, the German public prosecutor was unable to conduct a death investigation. It was also unclear whether there were indications of third-party negligence.

According to reports, the diplomat's body has now been transferred to Russia.

When asked, the Russian Embassy spoke of a "tragic accident" that was not commented on for "ethical reasons".