Maksim Kuzminov, the Russian pilot who flew to Ukraine in a military helicopter in August last year, was killed in Spain in Villajoyosa in the Alicante area. The Ukrainian media broke the news based on information from the Defense Ministry's intelligence chiefs. Kuzminov would have been shot in a garage a week ago, but the outlines of the story – which also features in Tass – are not yet clear. According to the Russian authorities, the pilot had recently had alcohol and drug problems.
Kuzminov had defected by crossing the border at the controls of a Mi-8 helicopter, landing in the Kharkiv region and handing himself over to the Ukrainian services, who were awaiting his arrival. With him were two other crew members who were later eliminated. The spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence later said that Kuzminov would receive the equivalent of $500,000 as a reward. The pilot explained that he defected because he was in open conflict with the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin: “What is happening hurts me: the murders, the tears, the blood. There are no Nazis or fascists in Ukraine, I don't want to be an accomplice in Russian crimes”.
The Civil Guard is investigating the case. The crime is said to have been committed last Tuesday, but there is no absolute certainty about the identity of the victim: “It could be wrong and it could be another person,” say investigators. Spanish media reported on February 13 about the discovery of the body of a 33-year-old Ukrainian. According to Eureka News, there is no doubt: it is Kuzminov. However, the age of the killed subject and Kuzminov do not match. “The Russian pilot is currently 27 years old, while the deceased found is 33 years old,” writes RBC-Ukraine.
According to the Spanish press, which speaks of a “settlement of accounts”, the body was found last Tuesday on the ramp of a garage in the La Cala area. A neighbor raised the alarm. The Civil Guard also found a burned car in the nearby town of El Campello.