As first reported in the New Voice of Ukraine, and now being picked up by the international media, including the Guardian:
A Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine last year in a secret operation has been found dead in Spain, according to the main military intelligence agency in Kyiv.
Reports in Russian and Spanish media on Monday said Maksim Kuzminov was found dead after allegedly moving to the town of Villajoyosa in Alicante on the Mediterranean coast, in an area popular with holidaymakers. His body was discovered last Tuesday, it was said, on the car park ramp underneath an apartment block.
The reports claimed he had been murdered by unknown gunmen who fired 12 shots. A burnt-out car was discovered nearby in the Costa Blanca town of El Campello. Spanish police had initially thought the shooting was gang-related before reportedly learning of the victim’s extraordinary backstory and his former role in Russia’s war and invasion.
…
Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s GUR intelligence agency, said his officers had persuaded Kuzminov to defect during an elaborate six-month operation. Before that, the pilot’s family were extracted from Russia, Budanov said.
The newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda, citing a GUR source, said the pilot’s former girlfriend had found Kuzminov’s body. “He decided to move to Spain instead of being here [in Ukraine]. From what we know: he invited his ex to his place and was found shot dead,” the source reportedly said.
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Reports last September suggested he was considering joining Ukraine’s small airforce. It is unclear whether he changed his mind and why he decided to leave the relative safety of Ukraine for Spain.
Shades of Trotsky in 1940 Mexico City! — Putin appears to be going full Stalin now. When are NATO and the US going to finally get the message that Putin is playing for keeps here, and that it’s long past time we started getting serious about actually mobilizing all our economic, political, and military resources to confront this clear and present danger before it's too late?
Rusputinstan delenda est! Slava Ukraini!
