Russian Army Captain Maxim Kuzminov, a helicopter pilot, deserted last August and surrendered to the Ukrainian authorities.
Half a year later, his body, still without official identification by investigators, lies in the Institute of Legal Medicine after having been shot in the parking lot of an urbanization in Villajoyosa (Alicante, 36,093 inhabitants), where he was found in possession of false documentation.
His murder, attributed by Spanish intelligence to a direct order from the Russian authorities, as EL PAÍS announced this Thursday, is being investigated by the Civil Guard under strict secrecy dictated by the Investigative Court 3 of the Alicante municipality.
The few known clues barely trace the path that brought him to Spain and some details of his death.
But the final script of the story still has many gaps to fill.
Identity.
It was Ukraine that confirmed that the body found in the coastal municipality of Alicante was that of Kuzminov, a Russian pilot who landed his helicopter at the Kharkiv air base without any of his colleagues knowing of his decision to abandon the post. he.
After receiving a reward of $500,000 from kyiv, Moscow put a price on his head and opened a court case against him for treason.
Arrival in Spain.
According to government sources, it was Kuzminov himself who chose to settle in the Alicante city where 1,200 Ukrainians and 800 Russians live together, according to the latest municipal registry accounting.
kyiv provided him with false documentation, but no protection.
The Moncloa also had no evidence that he had traveled to Spain.
The Russian soldier chose to settle in a building in La Cala, a residential area located at the northern end of Villajoyosa where the areas of Finestrat and Benidorm also meet.
Although his surroundings are full of establishments specializing in Eastern products, Kuzminov preferred to frequent those with a mostly Spanish clientele, perhaps to avoid being recognized.
His neighbors, almost all foreigners in the low season, barely know each other.
The dissident military man did not usually talk to anyone.
Agents around the body of the pilot Kuzmínov in Villajoyosa (Alicante), on February 13.
Rafa Arjones/Informacion.es (via REUTERS)
Death.
On February 13, at 4:48 p.m., the 112 emergency service received a notice about a possible accident inside a parking lot of the apartment block where Kuzminov lives, located on Marinada Street, 1 bis.
Several units from the Villajoyosa Local Police, which has a detachment 50 meters from the scene, appear at the scene of the events.
Everything happens in one of the two parking lots of the property, on Rosa dels Vents street, where two large gates and a pedestrian gate located at the end of a steeply sloping ramp give access to several floors of private spaces for vehicles.
As soon as they arrive, the agents discover bullet casings.
A body lies on the ground and shows several bullet holes and signs of having been run over, according to the Civil Guard, which does not specify the exact number.
The Judicial Police unit of the armed institute takes charge of the investigation after receiving the notice from the Local Police.
According to a passport found among the victim's belongings, he is a 33-year-old man of Ukrainian nationality.
The Investigative Court 3 of Villajoyosa, on duty that day, takes charge of the case, opens homicide proceedings and orders the removal of the body, which is transferred to the Alicante Institute of Legal Medicine, where it continues.
Days later, the vehicle used in the crime was found burned at the access to one of the many hidden coves in the neighboring town of El Campello.
So far, all the details that have officially emerged.
Residential where Kuzminov lived, in Villajoyosa. Joaquín de Haro
False identity.
Without revealing the details, investigators discover that the murder victim's passport is false.
The Civil Guard orders a fingerprint scan and DNA and teeth analysis to try to establish the real identity of the deceased.
At the moment, and until the conclusive results of these tests are submitted in the preliminary progress of the autopsy, the Vile court continues with the proceedings opened for the alleged homicide of the person whose data appeared in the fictitious passport, as confirmed by Court sources. Superior of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV).
The procedure to notify the family or for the appearance of parties in the future trial has not been initiated, since all efforts are aimed, for the moment, at verifying identity and clarifying the facts.
The facts.
Some witnesses assured the Local Police that they had seen a car fleeing from the parking lot where Kuzminov was shot.
It has not been reported, however, whether a single perpetrator of the crime or two was traveling inside, although Spanish intelligence sources assume that those responsible for the murder were two gunmen who crossed the border on their way and that, probably, the have crossed back again.
The trail.
The discovery of Kuzminov by those who were persecuting him as a traitor is also under investigation, although there are two main currents.
The first, that he was recognized by one of his compatriots in Villajoyosa, a town located in the Spanish province with the largest Russian population (17,500) and close to Altea, one of the large communities of residents from that country.
The second, approved by the Ukrainian secret services, that the pilot called her girlfriend to invite her to meet him at her new Spanish residence.
The investigations, in this as in all senses, continue under the key of the court.
Faith of errors
In a first version of this text it was mentioned that Moncloa provided a false identity to the murdered Russian pilot, when kyiv was supposed to appear.
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