Germany: Russian on trial after attack on Ukrainian soldiers

A Russian national who allegedly stabbed two Ukrainiansoldiers to death in the German state of Bavaria last year went on trial in Munich on Monday.

The suspect, 58, is said to have attacked the two war-wounded soldiers, aged 23 and 36, with a knife in the town of Murnau last April. The soldiers were undergoing rehabilitation for their injuries in the town's trauma clinic at the time.

The stabbing sent shock waves across the small community.

Accused admits regrets over his actions 

The three, who knew each other loosely from previous encounters, had been drinking together at a local bar when they started arguing about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

At the start of his trial on Monday, the accused admitted to the crime. "Now, in a sober state, I deeply regret what happened," he said through his lawyer. 

The Russiancitizen had felt "violated in his national pride" as a result of the argument, the Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism of the Munich Public Prosecutor said.

The indictment stated that the suspect, who has been living in Germany since the early nineties, is a "supporter of an exaggerated Russian nationalism" who "unreservedly advocates the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine."

The office took over the investigation due to the possible political background of the killings.

*Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.

Edited by: Natalie Muller