A Russian "diplomat" flew to his death from a high window, but German authorities sat on it for a month before telling anyone.
He had apparently fallen from an upper floor, but it was unclear how, it added. Russia's embassy called the death of the diplomat – who has not been officially named – a "tragic accident". Germany's foreign ministry confirmed the man's death but would not give further details.
The BBC, citing Bellingcat, reports that the man was linked to the FSB's Second Service, widely held responsible for various murders, poisonings and other incidents characteristic of the Russian state's unsubtle spycraft. Der Spiegel reports plainly that the man was a spy and that the Russians invoked his diplomatic status to prevent an autopsy or public investigation of his death.