Polygraph

An FSB assassin murdered someone in Germany in broad daylight.

Posted by The Bulwark Daily, Checked

Polygraph verdictTrue
Sources
6 support1 context
Said
1 time·
Confidence
92%
The Bulwark DailySep 29, 2026
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63 claimsThe check →

The sources consistently report that Vadim Krasikov, an FSB agent, shot dead Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in broad daylight in a Berlin park on 23 August 2019, and that a German court convicted him of murder. The extracted claim is a faithful paraphrase of the post and no source contradicts its core assertion.

What was said

… Soil. Yeah, and that, I think, as well. Yeah, and that's another ratcheting up. In You know, okay, the swap that I was part of: an FSB assassin murdered somebody in broad daylight in Germany, and then they swapped me, you know, and a host of others, for him and a host of others. But that's sort of the main, or sort of the swap that, that hadn't happened, that they were targeting the U.S., and I think that's another red line that we're, you know, …
The Bulwark Daily · · from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. Reuters reports that Krasikov was convicted of murdering a former Chechen militant as he walked in broad daylight in a central Berlin park in 2019.[1][2]

Supports. Kremlin-confirmed reporting states that Krasikov is a serving member of Russia's FSB, and DW reports that prosecutors said he acted on the FSB's orders.[3][4]

Supports. Bellingcat and DER SPIEGEL research concluded that Krasikov was an FSB assassin, and the killing was the FSB's revenge on an opponent in broad daylight in Berlin.[5][6]

Context. Some sources describe the victim as Georgian-national Zelimkhan Khangoshvili and the killing as occurring in Berlin's Kleiner Tiergarten, and Moscow denied the German allegations; these details do not affect the core claim.[4][6][7]

Sources

7 sources: 1 fact-checker, 6 not rated

  1. 1Who is Vadim Krasikov, Russian hitman freed from German jail in ...reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
  2. 2Vadim Krasikov, the Russian hitman sprung from German jail in prisoner swapthestar.com.my · not rated · cited for: supports
  3. 3Kremlin confirms freed Russian hitman Vadim Krasikov is FSB agentnovayagazeta.eu · not rated · cited for: supports
  4. 4Germany expels two Russian diplomats over Tiergarten murder – DW – 12/15/2021dw.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
  5. 5How the Prisoner Exchange Came About Success for the West ...spiegel.de · not rated · cited for: supports
  6. 6Bellingcat Says FSB Behind 2019 Berlin Killing Of Former ...rferl.org · not rated · cited for: supports, context
  7. 7The Story of Vadim Krasikov: The Kremlin’s Favorite Assassinnews-nest.com · not rated · cited for: context

Where this claim was made

Said in 1 published post

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