German authorities deported 48 people to Georgia, including the brother and other relatives of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Chechen field commander and Georgian native killed in 2019.
The deportation operation was carried out on a charter flight on October 23. That same day, police searched the apartment of Khangoshvili's brother, Zurab, in Wünsdorf. Cellphones were confiscated from the family members, who were then taken to the airport. Zurab Khangoshvili had previously been denied asylum by German authorities (in August 2023) and Swedish authorities (in 2022).
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was murdered in Berlin. German authorities believe Russian authorities were involved in the murder. The killer was identified as FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, who was returned to Russia as a result of a prisoner exchange in August 2024.
