Two Ukrainian service members were stabbed to death in Germany on Saturday. A Russian national has been arrested on charges of murder. File Photo by Clemens Bilan/EPA-EFE
April 28 (UPI) — Two Ukrainian service members in Germany for rehabilitation were stabbed to death over the weekend, according to Kyiv’s foreign ministry and local authorities who said a Russian national was in police custody. Police in the state of Bavaria said in a statement that the stabbing happened Saturday evening at a shopping center in Murnau am Staffelsee, located about 43 miles south of Munich.
Police were notified of the incident at about 5:20 p.m. and arrived on the scene to find a 36-year-old having already succumbed to his injuries and a 23-year-old seriously injured. The second victim was transported to a local hospital where they later died, authorities said.
The identities of the victims were not released tho the public.
A 57-year-old Russian national who lived near the scene of the crime was arrested, authorities said.
The suspect made their initial court appearance Sunday where the judge issued a warrant for their arrest on charges of murder. The assailant, whose identity was also not released to the public, is being held in pre-trial detention.
Ukraine‘s foreign ministry in a Telegram statement confirmed that the two victims were military personnel undergoing medical rehabilitation in Germany.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba thanked German law enforcement officers for their prompt arrest of the suspect, it said.
The incident comes after two Ukrainian basketball players were stabbed in Germany in February, resulting in the death of 17-year-old Volodymyr Yermakov.
