The Russian defector led an isolated life on the Costa Blanca. Maxim Kuzminov reportedly worked as a bricklayer and last October moved into an apartment block with many holiday apartments, just a few hundred meters from the beach. 800 Russians and 1,200 Ukrainians live in the new development district on the outskirts of Villajoyosa, where the 28-year-old former helicopter pilot was shot in the underground parking lot two weeks ago.
The coast of the province of Alicante in southern Spain is very popular with Russians and Ukrainians. As of 2022, more than 11 thousand Ukrainians and a good 17 thousand Russians are registered there. In Altea Hills, a few kilometers from Villajoyosa, it was rumored that Vladimir Putin was vacationing in one of the luxurious villas on the hillside above the coast. It is also said that the Russian mafia has long preferred seaside resorts, from where there were direct flights to Moscow.
Kuzminov, who initially fled to Ukraine last summer, is said to have preferred to go to the shops and bars favored by Spaniards, neighbors reported. But it would have been difficult to go unnoticed. But he apparently felt so safe that he reportedly contacted at least one ex-girlfriend in Russia.
Shot and ran over
However, according to information from the Spanish newspaper “El Mundo”, his downfall was that he invited his mother, who had also fled Russia to Ukraine, to Alicante and was apparently already making preparations for her visit. It played an important role in her escape and, according to Spanish investigators, was targeted by Russian agents.
Kuzminov was shot in the underground parking lot of his home. : Image: Portal
According to El Mundo, there is no doubt in Spanish security circles that the Russian foreign secret service SWR organized the assassination. For this purpose, two or more Chechens were recruited from the mafia environment in Spain, who burned their getaway car and probably left the country after the crime on February 13th. Apparently they had been monitoring Kuzminov for some time. The perpetrators shot him in the underground parking lot and ran him over with their car. According to the report, they fired six Makarov rounds developed in the Soviet Union. Russian politician Boris Nemtsov was killed with similar bullets near the Kremlin in 2015.
What was surprising was that the pro-Russian media were among the first to report the death of the Russian defector. First “Il Corrispondente” in Italy, then the Spanish Channel X Eureka News, affiliated with the Kremlin – both citing the Spanish Guardia Civil, which at the time did not even know who the victim was. Initially, only the death of a Ukrainian, on February 13, was reported in the local press; the police suspected an agreement between criminals.
Who knew whereabouts?
In an initial reaction, the Spanish government stated that security authorities were not aware that the Russian pilot, to whom Ukraine had given a new identity, was in Spain. This was confirmed by Defense Minister Margarita Robles, who said that Kuzminov came to Spain of his own free will to settle in Villajoyosa.
However, in El Mundo's latest report, unnamed government sources claim that Madrid knew about his stay in Spain “from day one”. It's not just this article that talks about security failures and a series of mistakes on the Spanish and Ukrainian sides: one of Russia's most wanted and hated defectors lived unprotected in Spain for five months – “in the heart of a snake's nest”, in a Russian favorite place Mafia.
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According to the newspaper “El País”, everything indicates that neither the defector nor Ukraine asked the Spanish authorities for protection, as happens, for example, with the Ukrainian soldiers who are being treated in Spain. Despite the violation of Spanish sovereignty, the government wants to wait for the “full investigation” before responding to Moscow.
The online media accuses the government of cowardly looking the other way. In a comment, “El País” demands that both Spain and the EU react “strongly”. The danger is too great that Russian President Putin will otherwise use Europe for new “bloody maneuvers”.