Widow’s pique

The exchange was definitely not free of ethical concerns, however, with many people in particular outraged that convicted FSB hitman Vadim Krasikov was one of the eight Russian prisoners released by the West as part of the deal. Krasikov murdered former Chechen rebel commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in a Berlin park in 2019, but was apprehended and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany. 

Khangoshvili was an ethnic Chechen born in Georgia’s Pankisi Valley who served as a platoon commander fighting Russian troops during the Second Chechen War, and a Georgian military officer during the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Putin twice accused Khangoshvili of involvement in the 2004 Beslan school siege, as well as in the Nazran raid on Ingushetia later the same year, and in 2016 he moved with his family to Germany, where he was later killed by Krasikov. 

Winning Krasikov’s release had long been a preoccupation for Vladimir Putin, who has called Krasikov a hero and a patriot, and travelled to meet him personally upon his arrival in Moscow last week. 

Novaya Gazeta Europe spoke to Khangoshvili’s widow, Manana Tsiatieva, to ask her how she felt seeing her husband’s killer walking free after spending just five years in prison.

NGE: You got married before your husband became involved in military operations. How did you react to his decision to do so?

MT: He believed that we Chechens had always been treated unfairly, that people from the Caucasus have had to endure countless wars and murders. In 1996, a shell hit my house, killing my six-year-old sister and niece. I still refused to accept war or violence in any form, even though I was traumatised by the death of my loved ones. Zelimkhan said: “It wasn’t you who brought war to their land, you didn’t bring death upon them. They are the ones who came to your land and who are killing people. Who will be responsible for this? Who will avenge your innocent sister?” He said that a man who hid behind the skirt of his wife or mother could not be called a man. He said that if a person came at you with a weapon, you needed to confront him and push back with force.

NGE: What did you say to him?

MT: Of course, I was against the war. As a woman, I felt selfish — I didn’t want the father of my child to go to war as I was afraid that I would have to raise my child alone. But is that selfishness? I think it’s a normal feeling. I didn’t blame him as I thought his judgements were fair despite not agreeing with them.

NGE: Putin linked Zelimkhan with the Beslan school siege and a raid by Chechen militants on Ingushetia that left at least 60 people dead in 2004. What do you make of that?

MT: Putin also denied the FSB’s involvement in Zelimkhan’s murder before the whole world. That alone is enough to show that he always lies. Putin claimed that Zelimkhan killed 60 government officials in Ingushetia. It was such a stupid lie. How could one person have killed so many people? Putin knew that a group led by [Aslan] Maskhadov was responsible. So why did he lie? He also claimed that Zelimkhan took part in the Beslan school siege. But he was by my side when the school was taken over. Our second child had just been born and we watched the news about Beslan together.

NGE: Do you remember how Zelimkhan reacted to the Beslan crisis at the time?

MT: He was glued to the TV and was very worried about the situation. His reaction after the crisis was like this: “Imagine if nobody had died, all that Putin and the Russian government had to do was withdraw their troops and not shed blood. All that was required of them was to liberate Chechnya.” When the little bodies were taken out of school, it was terrible. Every parent understands the value of a child’s life.

NGE: How do you think your husband is perceived in the Russian-speaking world?

MT: Russia as a whole has turned him into a criminal. I’m not talking about everyone, but the authorities and officials call him that. If only they knew what kind of criminals we consider them to be! They are a thousand times worse than Zelimkhan, who just defended his homeland. He did not bring the war to Russia. The media is more to blame for his criminal image, actually. Putin only made two statements about him, but then they wrote all these false articles, probably in an attempt to suck up to the government.

NGE: In 2016, you and your family applied for political asylum in Germany, but your husband’s application was rejected. Why do you think the German authorities made that decision? After all, by that time, there had already been attempts on his life in Georgia.

MT: I don’t know, it’s hard to answer this question. He knew he was in danger. For example, in 2006, my sister moved to Sweden and applied for asylum there. She left Chechnya after masked men broke into her house at night and took my father away. The kidnapping was an attempt to put pressure on Zelimkhan. In Sweden, she was able to get asylum simply for having Zelimkhan as her brother-in-law. But despite the fact that he arrived in Germany with plenty of evidence, in Zelimkhan’s own case it wasn’t sufficient to earn him asylum.

Russia and Germany have much in common, but Putin carrying out a contract killing in Berlin was a major slap in the face for Germany, and yet, despite that, German antipathy to Muslims was stronger still. Had Krasikov killed a European, everything would have turned out very differently.

NGE: Did German politicians ever contact you to discuss Krasikov’s potential exchange? 

MT: No, not once. After Navalny’s death, journalists started calling me. I learned from them that the German authorities had been considering exchanging Navalny [for Krasikov]. They asked me how I would have reacted, and I replied that I could no longer react in any way, as it was now impossible. I’m glad for those who have been released from prison. Maybe there are some decent people among them — I simply don’t know any of them. But it could have been done differently, without releasing a murderer. This prisoner exchange allows other potential assassins to know that they can kill, and be released as part of an amnesty or a prisoner exchange. The German authorities freed a convicted murderer who disregarded the laws of their country.

Even at the time of the murder, no German politicians contacted me to express their condolences. Why not? I don’t know. They didn’t apologise then and they haven’t apologised now. The court was the only one to apologise to us for permitting such a murder to occur in Germany, when it sentenced Krasikov to life imprisonment.

NGE: Many people have cited the trolley problem when arguing in favour of the prisoner exchange. How do you react to that?

MT: I won’t change their minds. I remain of the opinion that a different decision should have been taken and that compromises should have been made on other issues. How could a murderer in such a high-profile case be released? In a foreign country, a foreign citizen came and killed another foreign citizen. I think Germany has shown its weakness.

NGE: You’ve previously said that Russia doesn’t let go of its victims — should this warning be heeded by those freed in last week’s prison swap?

MT: Definitely. If these people are on Russia’s blacklist, then this prisoner exchange is an explicit warning. As soon as I have the opportunity, I will look through the names of those who have been exchanged, and see when they were detained. If they were detained without a real reason, then I am more than sure that everything was planned for the purpose of this exchange. Russia won this time. It can simply manipulate the interests of other countries.

NGE: Would you like to say something to the people who were exchanged for your husband’s killer?

MT: If any of them read this interview, I think they will understand what I want to say. In general, though, what difference does it make what a person like me says? If it made any difference at all, this world wouldn’t be so transactional.

NGE: And what would you say to the German politicians who exchanged Krasikov without asking your opinion?

MT: I hope they don’t get swept up in any illusory political ideas and I hope they continue to advocate for themselves and defend their own truth. I hope they don’t fall prey to anyone else in the future.