A Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with his Cold War-era helicopter was the victim of gunfire last week, according to Ukrainian media.
Last week, a man was found shot to death in a parking lot in Villajoyos, Alicante, Spain. Spanish authorities have not released the names of the dead, but Ukrainian media now say the body is that of Captain Maxim Kuzminov, a Russian military pilot who defected to Ukraine by helicopter last year.
ukrainian pravda cited sources Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate “confirmed” the defector’s death and said that after crossing into West Kuzminov, he moved to Spain, possibly using a $500,000 bounty paid for his defection by the Ukrainian government. .
spanish newspaper el pais report Kuzminov’s body was found “riddled with bullets” and it was also revealed that he had been run over by his attacker. The getaway car was found burnt out.
The paper also said Kuzminov had false documents and had previously received death threats, and that the Alicante area where he lived was popular with Ukrainian and Russian expatriates. , which suggests that he may have been living under a false identity.
Russia had already ordered the purge of “traitors” in its country last year, and in response to today’s news of Kuzminov’s death, said that he was already morally dead when he decided to flee to the West. He called this a “dirty act.” And a terrible crime. ” Russia further claimed that Kuzminov may have been killed by Ukraine itself to “eliminate inconvenient witnesses.”
Kuzminov, a transport helicopter pilot, said in a speech after defecting to Ukraine last year that he felt motivated because he opposed Russia’s genocide against Ukraine and opposed “murder, tears and bloodshed.” .
Unaware of Kuzminov’s plans, two of the crew were shot and killed in the process of defection, as they tried to flee towards the Russian border after Kuzminov landed on Ukrainian territory.
The helicopter pilot’s incident is perhaps the most high-profile publicly recognized desertion case so far in the course of the Ukraine war, but Russia considers it a sufficient problem and They started taking away their passports to prevent them from escaping. Go on vacation and never come back. Last year it was claimed that people in sensitive positions were being given the option of surrendering their passports for “safe custody” or quitting their jobs.
