Russian defector murdered in Spain was ‘under protection plan,’ Zelensky administration advisor Podolyak says

Maxim Kuzminov, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine in August and was shot dead in Spain last week, was living under a protection plan at the time of his death, Zelensky administration advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said in an interview with the Spanish outlet El Mundo published Monday. Podolyak explained:

The Russian mafia has established itself very firmly in Spain. Our military intelligence should be able to comment on this better, but I can say two things: if a pilot who is using a protection plan is forced to avoid contact and change his life in order to survive, and this still happens to him, it means that Spain needs to investigate what happened, and during this thorough investigation, Spain must show who should pay for this crime that Russia committed on Spanish soil.

According to Spanish media, Kuzminov’s body was found with at least five gunshot wounds in a parking garage in the town of Villajoyosa on February 13. Two suspects in the murder reportedly fled the scene and are believed to have left the country.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that Spanish intelligence services are certain one of Russia’s intelligence agencies is responsible for the murder but have not determined which one. The outlet noted that this is the first such murder on Spanish territory and that Madrid is preparing a “firm response.”