Vadim Krasikov

Vadim Nikolayevich Krasikov (Russian: Вади́м Никола́евич Кра́сиков [vɐˈdʲim nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkrasʲɪkəf]; born 10 August 1965) is a Russian security service hitman who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for the killing of 40-year-old Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin, Germany, on 23 August 2019. On 1 August 2024, he returned to Russia after a prisoner exchange between Russia and the West. One of the prisoners involved in the exchange for Krasikov, Ilya Yashin, would condemn the fact that he was specifically freed in exchange for him due to Krasikov originally being sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Khangoshvili.