Andri Portnov, a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament and part of the Yanukovych administration, was shot dead outside a school in Madrid on Wednesday.
Media outlets often label him as “pro-Russian.” Just recently, he was involved in a controversial explanation regarding this label. On that day, Portnov was dropping off two of his four children at a private American school in the Barcelona area when he was approached by two or three men on motorcycles.
Witnesses reported that five shots were fired close range, with Portnov sustaining three injuries—two to the chest and one fatal shot to the head. Other parents at the school reported that the shooter “finished him off on the ground” before fleeing the scene.
No arrests have occurred so far. Reports indicate that Spanish special intelligence is involved in the investigation, and they are considering potential political motivations.
Portnov was an advisor to the pro-Russian former president Viktor Yanukovych from 2010 to 2014. He had also worked as a lawyer for Yulia Tymoshenko, another political figure, who was once an ally of Yanukovych but eventually became his rival. Additionally, Portnov served in Parliament from 2006 to 2010.
Following Yanukovych’s ousting in 2014 amid the Euromaidan protests, Portnov fled the country. He spent time in Russia and Austria before briefly returning to Ukraine. However, he left again in 2022 after the Russian invasion and claimed he had been the target of an assassination attempt. There were ongoing investigations into his actions during Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, including several criminal cases against him for treason.
Kyiv Independent noted that Portnov had a reputation for being heavily involved in legal disputes, famously suing a journalist in a Kiev court in 2024. He was also sanctioned by the US in 2021 for his alleged involvement in corrupt practices concerning government contracts.
While there’s no definitive proof linking his assassination to his political past, Spain has seen a spate of violence related to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Several pro-Russian individuals have been killed since the reinvasion, with notable instances including the murders of Russian oligarchs and their families in seaside resorts.
Interesting to note, by 2024, a well-known Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine was believed to be living in Spain under a new identity.
The circumstances of Portnov’s killing echo a previous assassination attempt on Spanish populist politician Alejo Vidal Quadras, who was also targeted after a motorcycle ambush at a well-known location, his church. Vidal Quadras survived the attack, and authorities indicated that these incidents appeared to involve professional “hits.”
