A suspected Russian defector shot dead in Spain was murdered by assassins on behalf of the Kremlin, according to a report in El País newspaper. The killers most likely came from abroad and have already left the country, the newspaper wrote on Thursday, citing Spanish intelligence circles.
The body with multiple gunshot wounds was found last Tuesday in an underground parking garage of an apartment complex in the city of Villajoyosa near Alicante on the Mediterranean Sea. The burnt-out getaway car of the perpetrator(s) was found nearby shortly afterwards.
Was the Secret Service ordered to kill?
The victim was Russian helicopter pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who defected with his plane to Ukrainian troops last August, the newspaper writes. State television in Moscow reported in the autumn that the Russian secret service had been ordered to kill the ‘traitor to the homeland’.
Spanish authorities have not yet officially confirmed the identity of the dead man. When asked about the article on Thursday, the Interior Ministry in Madrid simply emphasized that the investigation was still ongoing. However, the case is considered “extremely serious” in diplomatic circles in Madrid, the newspaper wrote. If Moscow’s authorship of the crime is confirmed, Spain will provide a “robust response.”
Schadenfreude from Russia
The Russian government has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but a Russian secret service joyfully acknowledged the news of the death. “This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse at the moment he was planning his dirty and terrible crime,” the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service SWR, Sergei Naryshkin, said, according to state news agency Tass.
However, Kiev has verified the man’s death. “We can confirm this fact,” Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told public television on Monday. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security Council, said Kiev had proposed that the pilot remain in the country. “He certainly would have been safe here.” The Russian secret service would not have had it as easy in Ukraine as in Spain.
Did the killer live in the same apartment complex?
Spanish government spokeswoman María Pilar Alegría said in an initial statement on the killing on Tuesday: “In this case, the investigation is ongoing, so we cannot provide any information at this time.” has to do its job, let it happen and wait for the results of the investigation.”
“El País” wrote that many Russians and Ukrainians lived in the residential complex in Villajoyosa where the man living under a false Ukrainian identity was shot. Hiding there as a defector was risky because Russian secret services often used compatriots as a source of information, the newspaper wrote, citing intelligence circles. In addition, Moscow’s services sometimes collaborated with local gangs. Kuzminov was also quite careless. So he called his ex-girlfriend in Russia and invited her to visit him in Spain.
Landed by helicopter in Ukraine
The pilot flew from Russia to Ukraine in August last year with a fully equipped Mi-8 army helicopter. After landing at a Ukrainian military airfield, the other two crew members who were unaware of the operation were shot during their flight, according to Ukrainian sources. The Russian received the equivalent of more than 460,000 euros from Kiev for the crime.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
