Maksim Kuzminov, Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine, killed in Spain
Reports from Spanish and Ukrainian media reveal the tragic discovery of the lifeless body of Maksim Kuzminov, a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine last year, in a town in southern Spain.
According to Spain’s EFE news agency, Kuzminov's bullet-riddled body was found in an underground garage on February 13th in Villajoyosa, near Alicante in southern Spain.
Sergey Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service, remarked, "This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse at the very moment when he planned his dirty and terrible crime," although he neither confirmed nor denied any Russian involvement in Kuzminov’s demise.
Kuzminov, who had arrived in Ukraine with his Mi-8 helicopter last August, had been residing in Spain under a different name, holding a Ukrainian passport, as reported by EFE.
While a spokesperson for Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence confirmed Kuzminov’s death in Spain, the cause remains unspecified.
Spanish authorities confirmed the discovery of a body with gunshot wounds in the town but withheld the victim’s identity. A source at Spain’s Guardia Civil police force, speaking to Reuters, hinted that the victim might have been living under an assumed identity.
La Informacion, the Spanish newspaper first reporting the incident, mentioned that investigators were pursuing two suspects who fled in a vehicle, later found burned out in a nearby town.
Kuzminov’s decision to relocate to Spain instead of remaining in Ukraine was explained in his words to Interfax Ukraine, stating, “I contacted representatives of the Ukrainian intelligence service, explained my situation. I was offered security guarantees, new documents, monetary compensation, remuneration. We discussed the details and started planning my flight.”
The apparent killing of Kuzminov in Spain emerges amidst international scrutiny following the suspicious demise of Russian dissident Alexey Navalny in a Siberian prison.
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