Investigators in Killing of 2 Ukrainians in Germany Are Looking into a Possible Political Motive

Police in the German state of Thuringia. Reuters file photo
Police in the German state of Thuringia. Reuters file photo
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Investigators in Killing of 2 Ukrainians in Germany Are Looking into a Possible Political Motive

Police in the German state of Thuringia. Reuters file photo
Police in the German state of Thuringia. Reuters file photo

The public prosecutor general's office in Munich on Monday took over the investigation into the stabbing deaths of two Ukrainian men in southern Germany because of a possible political motivation for the crime, German news agency dpa reported.

The two Ukrainians, who were 23 and 36 years old and lived in the southern German county of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, were killed at a shopping center in the village of Murnau in Upper Bavaria. Shortly after the slayings on Saturday evening, police arrested a 57-year-old Russian on suspicion of murder, dpa reported.

The public prosecutor general's office usually takes over investigations from regular prosecutors if there is a possibility that a crime was politically motivated. The Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism is also involved in the investigation of the killings, dpa reported, The AP reported.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday that it appeared the two men were military servicemen undergoing medical rehabilitation in Germany.

The names of the victims and the suspect weren’t released in line with German privacy rules. The motive for the killings isn't yet known, authorities said.

According to an initial investigation, the three men knew each other, but further details need to be verified, local police spokesperson Stefan Sonntag told dpa. There were also indications that all three men had consumed alcohol.

“We have clear evidence that the suspect was under the influence of alcohol,” Sonntag was quoted as saying.

A spokesperson for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday expressed concern about the killings.

“This is a worrying incident, no question about it. The circumstances must now be investigated more closely," Steffen Hebestreit told reporters in Berlin.

“We can only speculate about the motives at the moment," he added. "But it is clear that we cannot tolerate such a thing on German soil anyway and that the Ukrainians, Ukrainians who have fled to us from the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, must now be safe.”

More than 1 million Ukrainian refugees have come to Germany since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Germany is also home to a significant Russian immigrant community and 2.5 million Russians of German ancestry who mostly moved to the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.



Israel Threatens Iran's Khamenei after Missiles Damage Hospital and Wound Over 200

(FILES) A handout picture provided by the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s office on March 21, 2025, shows him addressing the crowd during his annual Nowruz speech, in Tehran.(Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
(FILES) A handout picture provided by the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s office on March 21, 2025, shows him addressing the crowd during his annual Nowruz speech, in Tehran.(Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
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Israel Threatens Iran's Khamenei after Missiles Damage Hospital and Wound Over 200

(FILES) A handout picture provided by the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s office on March 21, 2025, shows him addressing the crowd during his annual Nowruz speech, in Tehran.(Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
(FILES) A handout picture provided by the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s office on March 21, 2025, shows him addressing the crowd during his annual Nowruz speech, in Tehran.(Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

Israel's defense minister overtly threatened Iran's supreme leader on Thursday after the latest missile barrage from Iran damaged a major hospital and hit a high-rise and several other residential buildings near Tel Aviv.

At least 240 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service. Black smoke rose from the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba as emergency teams evacuated patients.

In the aftermath of the strikes, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and said the military "has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”

While it remained unclear whether US President Donald Trump would task American forces to join Israel's sweeping campaign against Iran's military and nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he trusted that Trump would “do what's best for America.”

“I can tell you that they’re already helping a lot,” Netanyahu said from the rubble and shattered glass around the Soroka Medical Center.

US officials said this week that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. Trump later said there were no plans to kill him “at least not for now.”

The conflict began last Friday with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.