Kremlin threatens reciprocal measures after Berlin says it suspects Russian or Chechen involvement in man's death

Germany dismissed two Russian embassy employees in protest against what it said was Moscow's lack of cooperation in an investigation into the murder of a Georgian man in Berlin, in which prosecutors speculate Russian of Chechen involvement.

Russia which refuses any association, replied quickly, saying it would counter for what it called Germany's "unfriendly" move.

Berlin's decision indicates an increase in previously heightened tensions between Russia and Germany and other Western countries following the poisoning last year of a retired Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter on British soil.

"With this step, the German government is responding to [the fact that] Russian authorities have not supported sufficiently in the investigations circling the murder of Tornike K in a park in Berlin," said the German foreign ministry on Wednesday.

The victim, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, was shot twice in the head in a central Berlin park in August as he was going to a mosque.

He had earlier fought alongside anti-Moscow separatists in Russia's independent region of Chechnya.

Prosecutors said there were satisfactory leads to show that the killing was commanded either by the Russian state or by Chechen authorities.

The Kremlin has earlier rejected any Russian government engagement in the murder.