The defecting Russian navy helicopter pilot violently gunned down in Spain earlier this week could have given away his location to hitmen with a phonecall inviting his ex-girlfriend to go to him in Alicante, it has been revealed.
Captain Maksim Kuzminov was discovered riddled with bullets in an underground automotive park in Villajoyosa close to Alicante earlier this month following what’s feared to have been a Kremlin-orchestrated hit.
The 28-year-old had made himself a target of Russian death squads by fleeing his homeland final August in a stolen Mi-8 helicopter and touchdown it in a Ukrainian navy airfield.
Residing below a brand new id in Spain – and enriched by the Ukrainians after his defection – he had set about constructing a brand new life for himself free from the horrors of conflict.
However he’s believed to have made a deadly mistake in contacting a former flame and welcoming her to his new tackle.
‘We all know he had invited an ex-girlfriend to Spain and afterwards he was discovered lifeless. That decision may have been intercepted by Russian secret companies,’ Spanish media reported.
In the meantime, sources near the investigation claimed Russian ammunition was used within the assault to sign to different deserters the attain and murderous intention of the Kremlin’s safety equipment.
Maksim Kuzminov who flew his helicopter over the frontline to defect to Ukraine has been gunned to loss of life in Spain whereas residing below a brand new id
Spanish Civil Guard officers examine the storage the place the physique of Russian pilot Kuzminov
A burned automotive allegedly utilized by the perpetrators of the homicide of the Russian pilot Maksim Kuzminov to flee the scene is parked exterior the Spanish Civil Guard barracks, in El Campello, Spain
Captain Kuzminov, 28, (pictured) fled Russia with the assistance of Ukrainian intelligence companies
Nameless Spetsnaz particular forces officers from Russia’s GRU had been final 12 months proven on Moscow state TV making clear an ‘order’ had been given to liquidate Kuzminov
Revered Alicante paper Informacion reported right this moment: ‘Though the precise calibre or model has not been revealed, the truth that the ammunition is Russian-made confirms the suspicion that the lifeless man just isn’t the 33-year-old Ukrainian man that the documentation he was carrying mentioned, however 28-year-old Captain Kuzminov.
‘Sources near the investigation take into account the assassins used Russian ammunition so there could be little doubt the execution, with its exemplary overtones, got here from Russia and was the direct and introduced consequence of the high-profile desertion.’
Kuzminov was shot six occasions on February 13 after being chased from the second flooring of a basement automotive park beneath a big residential property in Villajoyosa close to Benidorm.
A automotive linked to the crime and thought to have been pushed by a getaway driver working with the gunman was later discovered burnt out in close by El Campello.
Spanish investigators are engaged on the idea the assassins had been employed hitmen who’ve possible since left the nation.
They’re analysing CCTV footage and are anticipated to formally verify Kuzminov was the sufferer once they have the outcomes of fingerprint and DNA checks and have submitted a full report back to an investigating decide.
Though it was initially reported Kuzminov was working on the residential property the place he was shot lifeless, it later emerged he had been staying at a flat he was doing up.
He was working below an alias that noticed him assume the profile of a 33-year-old Ukrainian man and had used his new wealth – rumoured to be £400,000 – to purchase property at an property company with Russian hyperlinks.
This, together with the ill-advised name to his ex-girlfriend, is believed to have alerted Russian safety companies to his whereabouts.
Final 12 months, nameless Spetsnaz particular forces officers from Russia’s GRU navy intelligence service had been proven on Russian state TV making clear an ‘order’ had been given to liquidate Kuzminov.
State-run Rossiya 1 channel’s Vesti Nedeli channel instructed viewers in a chilling broadcast: ‘The order [to kill Captain Kuzminov] was acquired, its execution is a matter of time.’
One Spetsnaz officer mentioned: ‘We’ll discover the person and punish him for betraying his brothers to the fullest extent of our nation’s legislation.’
A second officer mentioned merely: ‘ He won’t reside…’
It comes as impartial Telegram channel Volya – which displays either side within the conflict – drew a hyperlink between the case of the slain pilot and the murky circumstances surrounding the demise of multimillionaire Sergey Protosenya, 55.
The previous oligarch, a deputy chairman of Russian fuel firm Novatek, was discovered hanged in spring 2022 after allegedly murdering his spouse Natalia, 53, and their teenage daughter, Maria, as they slept in a Catalan resort city.
However the ugly crime scene smacked of a setup, and Protosenya is only one of dozens of Russian vitality oligarchs to have met a sticky finish for the reason that conflict in Ukraine broke out.
Pictured: Ukraine intelligence officers examine a Russian helicopter which they are saying was handed over to Ukraine by Russian pilot Maksim Kuzminov
Spanish Civil Guard officers stand exterior the storage the place the physique of the Russian pilot Maksim Kuzminov was discovered after he was shot lifeless
Spanish detectives have launched a probe into the pilot’s loss of life. Pictured: Spanish Civil Guard officers on the storage the place Kuzminov’s physique was discovered
Russian fuel tycoon Sergei Protosenya, his spouse Natalya, 53, and teenage daughter Maria had been discovered lifeless of their Spanish mansion, in Lloret de Mar, on April 19, 2022
Former oligarch Protosenya, a deputy chairman of Russian fuel firm Novatek, was discovered hanged in spring 2022
Volya claims each the Russian secret companies and lengthy established mafia clans are energetic in Spain, giving the Russian state a terrifying attain.
‘The Russians have been residing in Alicante, Altea, Benidorm and neighbouring small cities for 2 years now [since the start of the war], offering safety for cargo and ships, safety of money used for settlements, and escort of ‘export-import’ specialists coming from the Russian Federation, a few of whom put on FSB shoulder straps, and a few [GRU military intelligence],’ mentioned the Volya report.
‘Amongst these individuals there are skilled killers or saboteurs. It was they who killed the previous prime supervisor of Novatek Sergei Protosenya within the spring of 2022 in Lloret de Mar.
‘The homicide of Protosenya was related to the purge of personnel who knew quite a bit in regards to the withdrawal of cash to the EU and its legalisation there.
‘They tried to cowl up that loss of life as an alleged home homicide… However they didn’t disguise themselves with Kuzminov,’ reported Volya.
‘They promised to punish him – they punished.’
It warned: ‘Whereas European politicians are expressing concern about Navalny’s homicide, Russian assassins and intelligence companies are energetic and, sadly, efficiently working all through Europe and different components of the world.’
