Russian stabbed to death two Ukrainian soldiers in Germany

Editor's note: This item was updated after Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said the two Ukrainians killed were soldiers on rehabilitation in Germany.

A Russian man is suspected of killing two Ukrainian soldiers who were stabbed in the town of Murnau am Staffelsee in Germany on April 27, German local police and Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said.

Two men, aged 23 and 36, were found with stab wounds on the territory of a shopping center, according to the police. One of them reportedly died on the scene from severe injuries, and the other in the hospital the same evening.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on April 28 that the men were Ukrainian soldiers on medical rehabilitation in Germany. The ministry said Ukrainian consuls are clarifying information regarding the units where the late soldiers served.

Details and motives of the murder are being investigated.

The suspect, a 57-year-old Russian citizen, was detained at his home, the police said. Prosecutors requested to keep the suspect under arrest for the time of the investigation. A court is supposed to make a decision on the pre-trial restriction on April 28.

German police reported in February about the street knife attack on two Ukrainian basketball players in Germany. Seventeen-year-old Volodymyr Yermakov and 18-year-old Artem Kozachenko died in hospital due to injuries. The suspects were reportedly detained.

According to the Kyiv Basketball Federation, the attackers may have been motivated by hatred toward Ukraine. However, the German police reportedly do not believe the attack had a political motive, t-online reported.

Read also: Ukrainian teen basketball player killed in Germany

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