The man who was discovered shot dead in Spain is thought to be Maksim Kuzminov, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine last year.
Maxim Kuzminov turned himself in by flying a chopper into Ukrainian territory in August.
Ukrainian intelligence officially confirmed Kuzminov’s death on Monday, although Spanish police have not formally confirmed his identification.
“We confirm his death,” a representative said to the Ukrainian media site Ukrayinska Pravda. He could have stayed here, but instead, he moved to Spain. We do know that he invited his ex-wife to accompany him before his death was discovered.
Authorities in Spain believe the victim might have been posing as someone else.
Kuzminov’s body was found next to paperwork that confirmed his nationality but had a different name, next to a home in Villajoyosa on Spain’s eastern coast, according to Spanish news agency Efe.
A torched car that was likely used by the assailants was found close by, according to the intelligence agency’s press office.
Kuzminov reportedly called the Ukrainian secret agency last year to let them know he was about to defect.
Bio of Maksim Kuzminov on Wikipedia
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When ordered to deploy to Ukraine, young Russian military helicopter pilot Maxim Kuzminov struggled with his feelings.
He was originally from Syzran and had attended flying school to do honorable service to his country.
Nevertheless, Kuzminov’s understanding of the complicated history between Russia and Ukraine made him more sympathetic to the Ukrainian perspective.
His transport missions helped to sustain the occupation even if they were not deployed to fighting zones.
Although Kuzminov was adamant about quitting rather than allowing the invasion to proceed, pilots who chose to do so faced the prospect of being assigned to hazardous infantry duties.
His circumstances imprisoning him, he vanished from his airbase in southern Russia at the beginning of 2024.
Although his final fate is yet unclear, his subdued resistance highlights the unspoken concerns of many Russian military.
Age of Maksim Kuzminov: How Did the Pilot Pass Away?
Maksim was born in 1995 and is currently 29 years old as of 2024.
Maxim Kuzminov, the Russian military helicopter pilot who shockingly defected to Ukraine in August of last year, was slain on Spanish soil in a surprising turn of events.
After landing his Mi-8 aircraft in Ukraine without incident and receiving asylum, Kuzminov met a terrible and unexplained end many months later.
On February 19, reports from the Spanish and Ukrainian media stated that Kuzminov’s lifeless body, pierced by bullets, was found in an underground parking garage in the sleepy coastal town of Villajoyosa.
The remains were determined to belong to the young pilot who was on the run and was currently living under a pseudonym with travel documents from Ukraine, according to the Spanish national news agency EFE.
A spokesman for the military intelligence service of Ukraine told Reuters that they could confirm Kuzminov’s death within the nation, but they would not disclose the details of his alleged assassination.
The body of a gunshot victim was discovered by Spanish police in the town of Villajoyosa, but they withheld the victim’s identity due to the possibility that they had been residing there illegally and using a fictitious identity.
The manner of the horrific shooting points to a professional assassination, perhaps connected to Kuzminov’s prior defiance of Russia by defecting to Ukraine, even though the perpetrators’ precise motivations are unknown.
Moscow appeared embarrassed by his choice to leave, and it appears that to send a strong message to anyone who might be thought to be betraying the country, Russian security services located and killed the pilot in Spain.
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