As of: February 19, 2024, 7:48 p.m
By: Nadja Zinsmeister
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Press
Split
A former Russian pilot was apparently found dead in Spain.
The young man is said to have tried to escape the war in Ukraine.
Kiev/Valencia - A Russian deserter who is said to have received money and aid from Ukraine was apparently found dead in the Spanish province of Valencia on Monday.
“We can confirm this fact,” Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told public television on Monday.
Spanish authorities have not yet officially confirmed the identity.
Russian pilot sought protection from Russia in Spain - now he is apparently dead
The dead man is said to be a 28-year-old former Russian helicopter pilot named Maxim Kuzminov.
The young soldier defected to the Ukrainian army in August last year, the Ukrainian online portal
Kyiv Post
reported.
Accordingly, he flew to Ukraine with two other soldiers in a Russian Mi-8 army helicopter.
Shortly after landing, the other two crew members were shot while trying to escape, according to Ukrainian sources.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with military personnel in Novo-Ogaryovo on January 1, 2024.
© IMAGO/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin Pool
The Russian state agency
tass
also reported on Monday about the pilot's death.
A provincial Civil Guard press service told the agency that Spanish law enforcement authorities were investigating a suspected murder.
The body was found in an underground car park in the province of Alicante “with gunshot wounds”.
Unlike Ukrainian media, the news agency reports a “33-year-old man of Ukrainian nationality.”
The provincial civil guard did not provide any further details.
The Internet portal
Ukrayinska Pravda,
citing its own intelligence sources, wrote: “He brought his ex over and was found shot.”
Russian pilot found shot dead in Spain: This is how the escape from the Ukraine war went
After his escape in 2023, Kuzminov apparently handed over secret documents and technical equipment to the Ukrainian military.
In return he received 460,000 euros and security guarantees.
State television in Moscow reported in the fall that the Russian secret service had received the order to kill the man who was considered a traitor.
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Ukraine has been fighting a war against Russia for almost two years.
In April 2022, Kiev set rewards for functional Russian military equipment handed over to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian state promises Russian defectors the equivalent of over 920,000 euros as the maximum reward for a fighter aircraft.
(nz/dpa)