Bullet-riddled body 'may be Russian who defected with army helicopter'

20 February 2024 , 14:39

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Captain Maksim Kuzminov fled the Russian frontline in a helicopter working with Ukrainian intelligence (Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Spanish police have said that the bullet-riddled body of a man they discovered may be a Russian defector who fled with an army helicopter.

Maksim Kuzminov was fighting with the Russian army in Ukraine before he decided to flee, taking a military helicopter and flying away from the front lines last year. Kuzminov defected into Ukraine in a Mi-8 army helicopter with the help of Ukrainian intelligence.

But Andrii Yusov, a representative of the country’s spy service, confirmed to Spanish media that the Russian pilot had since died in Spain. He didn’t provide any details.

Spain’s Civil Guard said that they found false documents on a body discovered last week, on February 13. It was found in the entrance to a residential complex in La Cala, near the eastern port city of Alicante.

Captain Kuzminov pictured with his mum Inna Kuzminova (Maksim Kuzminov/east2west news)

They added that documents identified the man as a 33-year-old Ukrainian but police suspect it could be Kuzminov. Spanish state news agency Efe that the body had been shot half a dozen times and then been run over. Reports also said that a burning car, possibly used in the attack, was found near the area but this was not confirmed.

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Kuzminov had been living in Spain under a new identity (Maksim Kuzminov/east2west news)

Sergei Naryshkin, Russia's director of foreign intelligence described Kuzminov as a "moral corpse" and added: "In Russia, it is customary to speak good of the dead or nothing at all,", the Guardian reported.

Kieren Williams