Defected Pilot Dies of Gunshot Wound, Russian Emigrants in Spain Ask for Protection

Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Tony Webster)

JAKARTA - Russian emigrants in Spain who are critical of the Kremlin are calling for protection from local authorities, after a pilot from that country who defected to Ukraine was found dead of a gunshot wound in a garage in a city in Spain.

Ukraine's GUR military spy service has confirmed that the body with gunshot wounds found was that of Maxim Kuzminov, a Russian pilot who flew to Ukraine on a Mi-8 helicopter in August last year.

A Spanish judicial source told Reuters, as quoted February 21, police believe Kuzminov is the true identity of a man found a week with a gunshot wound in an underground garage in the city of Villajoyosa, carrying a Ukrainian passport under an alleged fake name.

Ukrainian flags can be seen on many balconies in Villajoyosa, a quiet residential town near the bustling tourist resort of Benidorm. Ukrainian refugees constitute a significant part of the city's population along with Russian and Bulgarian emigrants. Local police say there have been no murders for years.

The top floor of the residential building where Kuzminov was killed offers a clear view of the city's popular beach. Up to 70 percent of the building's residents are from Eastern Europe, the property manager told Reuters.

Some residents said the area was very quiet and they did not expect an incident like this to happen there.

Spanish government spokesperson Pilar Alegria said in a weekly briefing that the Guardia Civil police were carrying out an investigation into the murder in Villajoyosa, but did not provide further details.

Judicial sources said police considered the victim's passport, which identified him as a 33-year-old Ukrainian citizen, to be fake. Official identification can take time, depending on fingerprints and other information from abroad.

Separately, in Moscow's first comments on the case since news emerged of the killing, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service said the dead pilot had betrayed his country.

"This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse the moment he planned his dirty and terrible crimes," Sergei Naryshkin was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency.

Western leaders say Russia often kills people it considers traitors abroad. Moscow says the West has not provided evidence to support the claim.

Meanwhile, Yulia Taran, deputy head of a group called Free Russia in Spain, said the group had been helping other Russian defectors over the past two years, and it was common practice for them to use fake identities "so as not to be discovered by (President Vladimir) Putin's agents" 

"I think they are very worried now and let's hope that the Spanish police and secret services do a good job to prevent further abuse," he said.

The Ukrainska Pravda newspaper quoted the head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov as saying Kyiv had advised Kuzminov to stay in Ukraine where he "will be protected".

It is known that Kuzminov's defection to Ukraine last year was considered a major coup for Kyiv. Appearing at a news conference in Kyiv, he said he did not understand why his "beloved homeland" was involved in war with Ukraine.

Another aircrew member died during his defection. Moscow says Kuzminov killed them; he said they panicked and ran away, and were probably killed afterwards.