Files on the war between Ukraine and Russia According to Spanish military intelligence, quoted by the daily newspaper El País, assassins paid by Russia shot and killed Maxim Kouzminov, a Russian soldier who had defected to Ukraine, on February 13. If these “extremely serious” facts are proven, Spain will give “a decisive response”.
After the spectacular desertion of Russian pilot Maxim Kouzminov, who landed his M-8 helicopter near Kharkiv in August 2023, the man appeared in Ukrainian media to assert his gesture of resistance to Vladimir Putin's invasion policy. Since then he has been off the radar. In fact, he had settled under a false Ukrainian identity on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, where a commando found him on February 13 and riddled with bullets.
Moscow had vowed to avenge this affront, especially since the two co-pilots, unaware of Kuzminov's intentions, had been killed after refusing to defect. They were awarded posthumously. For the Spanish secret services, the daily newspaper El País quotes, there is no doubt about Moscow's involvement. Even if the government is still cautious: “Let’s let the civil guard do it.” [chargée du dossier] and the investigation is progressing,” the spokesman said on Tuesday.
Modus operandi hired killer
This is currently limited to a few items. The victim was surprised in the underground car park of her home when she got out of her car. Two men shot him before taking over his vehicle and driving over his body. The car was found burned about twenty kilometers away. The way they work is that of hired killers who probably come from abroad and disappear again as soon as their job is completed.
Little by little, details about the rebel pilot's incognito life are revealed. He had settled in Villajoyosa, a coastal town in the province of Alicante on the border with Benidorm, a hotbed of mass tourism. Many Eastern European residents live on the Costa Blanca coast. According to El Pais, Villajoyosa has a population of 36,000, with 1,200 Ukrainians and 800 Russians living there.
A call to his ex-fiancée
Was it wise to choose such an environment to hide in? Even under the protection of a false identity, Maxime Kouzminov was more likely to be recognized by immigrants from Russia or Ukraine than by Spaniards, among whom he was less notorious. Although a neighborhood survey showed that he avoided bars and supermarkets run by expatriates. The Ukrainian site Ukrainska Pravda provided further information: The refugee had invited his ex-fiancée, who remained in Russia, to come to Spain. An intercepted phone call could have put the Moscow services on the trail of the deserter.
Diplomatic sources consulted by El País described the action as “extremely serious” if Russian responsibility were confirmed and spoke of a “firm response” from the government. Kuzminov's death would effectively be the first elimination of a Kremlin enemy on Spanish territory. But such operations have already taken place in Europe or the Middle East, organized by a division of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service. The best-known remains the poisoning murder of dissident Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. Two years earlier, former Chechen President Zelimkhan Iandarbiev was killed in a bomb attack in Doha, Qatar.