In the heat of the moment it looked like a Mala ambush. The bullet-riddled body on the ramp of a garage beneath a building in Villajoyosa, north of Alicante. The suspected murderers' car was abandoned in El Campello, about twenty kilometers away. Instead, the Matrix was something else: a supposedly “wet,” dirty operation, as KGB agents with a license to kill once said.
The victim of the ambush is Maksim Kuzminov, a Russian pilot who fled to Ukraine in his Mi-8 helicopter last summer and handed it over to the enemy after crossing the border. An action with propaganda effect and part of a campaign by the Kiev armed forces under the leadership of Kyrylo Budanov. A wound that Moscow could not forget, in fact it had promised punishment for the defector.
According to an initial version, Kuzminov read on a Telegram channel that the Ukrainians were offering a reward of $500,000 to anyone who crossed the other barricade and brought a plane as a gift. The hook worked and the 28-year-old soldier made contact with the enemy to determine the details, measures and guarantees of Operation Synitsa. A long-winded plan that took months, waiting for the most opportune moment to attempt an escape. The window opened in early August when it took off from the Kursk base with spare parts for the fighters and two other crew members on board.
As he approached the border, he quickly dropped and landed at a certain place where Budanov's men were waiting for him. Kuzminov was taken to a safe place while his two companions were killed. An aspect on which he was very vague, as well as the rumors about a possible “secret” transfer of members of his family to Ukraine, a classic since the Cold War era. Anyone who turns their back on their homeland asks for protection for their partner, any children and parents. In both the East and the West, although there were episodes of defectors going alone.
When Kuzminov arrived in Ukraine, he told the media about his dislike of the conflict, gave some details and was taken into custody by the authorities, aware of the risks he was taking. In October 2023, a Russian television report showed an interview with some Spetsnaz from the GRU, the military service: With their faces covered, they assured that they would settle the score with the pilot. An obvious and obvious message that cannot be underestimated given the tradition of targeted assassinations by the “Soviets”, who are ready to return the blows of the enemy with the elimination of numerous symbolic figures, starting with Dugin's daughter.
Moscow, in turn, waited for the moment when the pilot would make the killers' task easier by setting up in southern Spain, an area where a possible team could penetrate but also find someone willing to shoot in exchange for a sum of money. According to a reconstruction, Kuzminov had a date with his ex-girlfriend and fell into a trap. There were those who rejoiced, those who suspected a Ukrainian orchestration, those who denounced the assassination attempt, comparing it to Navalny's death in prison.