In front of the building where the Russian pilot Maxim Kuzmínov was shot, in the residential area of La Cala de Villajoyosa (Alicante, 36,093 inhabitants) there is a bar run by Easterners with a multinational clientele. However, the owners, who prefer that the name of the establishment not be associated with such a gruesome event, assure that Kuzmínov was never seen there. I preferred to have breakfast a hundred meters away, in another restaurant whose name, like almost all that appear in this report, is being withheld at the request of the owners. There I always ordered a coffee with milk and toast with tomatoes and ham, surrounded by a predominantly Spanish community. “He was a completely normal boy, they didn't give him a cent,” says the owner, “he came, sat down and didn't make a conversation.” Perhaps the Russian soldier, accused of treason by his country, realized that he had ended up in the lion's den with his choice of hiding place on the Mediterranean coast.
The pilot also preferred shopping at a Spanish franchise supermarket, although there was another one specializing in oriental products less than a hundred meters from the crime scene. In the same neighborhood there is a place that the community uses as an Orthodox temple, and a kilometer away the Romanian believers are building a church. “Russians and Ukrainians are well integrated here and have all kinds of services,” say Antonio, José and Alberto, three friends sitting at a table at the bar where the crime victim was. “It was also easy for someone to recognize him,” they venture. Although, according to the owner of the site, “it looks like it.” [a KuzmÃnov] They caught him because he wanted to bring his partner from his country. Neither this nor any other hypothesis has emerged in a study carried out in absolute secrecy.
More information
In principle, however, Kuzminov's election seemed to be a good idea. In this enclave of La Cala, 300 meters from the beach, three towns come together, separated by barely a handful of streets: Villajoyosa, Finestrat and Benidorm. The murder occurred on the parking ramp of the Cala Alta residential complex in Villajoyosa, a city where 1,200 Ukrainians and 800 Russians live, according to the municipal census. Across the province of Alicante, the 2022 census counted 11,695 and 17,457, respectively, with major draws such as Torrevieja, Villajoyosa and Altea, a town just half an hour from La Cala, on the other side of the skyscrapers from Benidorm. .
Maxim Kuzmínov in an archive photo.
The apartment complex where the shooting occurred is a 2006 building that fell into disrepair over the winter as a second home until the pandemic, subsequent crisis and invasion of Ukraine filled it with “foreigners for rent.” filled, says a Valencian couple who lives next door and who also prefers anonymity. “It's brightened up a bit,” they continue, pointing to some brick walls, “and they're building the swimming pool they didn't have.” Neighbors leave the property and avoid the journalists' questions. Either they work at home and don't know anyone or they have just come from vacation. Everyone seems determined to waste Kuzminov's time there. Erase his death with a usually calm routine.
What influences the most is what happens next. To make sure you don't miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe to
The only official information about the shooting that ended the life of the Russian deserter is that on February 13, at 4:48 p.m., a message was received by the emergency number 112, which drew attention to a suspected accident, according to sources close to the Investigations report. The local police from Vila arrived immediately and after hearing the story of some witnesses who claimed they had seen a car fleeing the area at full speed, they entered the urbanization's private parking lot and quickly discovered some bullet casings. The officers notified the Guardia Civil, whose criminal investigation department took over the investigation. Only the discovery of a body with gunshot wounds was reported, which was initially identified as a 33-year-old Ukrainian citizen. But the documentation was wrong: in reality it was Kuzminov, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected in August 2023 and surrendered to the Ukrainian army.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_