- Maksim Kuzminov was discovered riddled with bullets in an underground automotive park
The defecting Russian navy helicopter pilot gunned down in Spain this week might 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 goal of Russian demise squads by fleeing his homeland final August in a stolen Mi-8 helicopter and touchdown it in a Ukrainian navy airfield.
Living underneath 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 battle.
But he’s believed to have made a deadly mistake in contacting a former flame and alluring her to his new handle.
‘We know he had invited an ex-girlfriend to Spain and afterwards he was discovered useless. That name may have been intercepted by Russian secret providers,’ Spanish media reported.
Meanwhile, 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 demise in Spain whereas dwelling underneath 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 providers
Anonymous Spetsnaz particular forces officers from Russia’s GRU have been final yr proven on Moscow state TV making clear an ‘order’ had been given to liquidate Kuzminov
Respected Alicante paper Informacion reported at present: ‘Although the precise calibre or model has not been revealed, the truth that the ammunition is Russian-made confirms the suspicion that the useless man will not be the 33-year-old Ukrainian man that the documentation he was carrying stated, however 28-year-old Captain Kuzminov.
‘Sources near the investigation take into account the assassins used Russian ammunition so there can 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 ground 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 speculation the assassins have been employed hitmen who’ve probably since left the nation.
They are analysing CCTV footage and are anticipated to formally verify Kuzminov was the sufferer once they have the outcomes of fingerprint and DNA exams and have submitted a full report back to an investigating decide.
Although it was initially reported Kuzminov was working on the residential property the place he was shot useless, it later emerged he had been staying at a flat he was doing up.
He was working underneath 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 assumed to have alerted Russian safety providers to his whereabouts.
Last yr, nameless Spetsnaz particular forces officers from Russia’s GRU navy intelligence service have 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 advised viewers in a chilling broadcast: ‘The order [to kill Captain Kuzminov] was obtained, its execution is a matter of time.’
One Spetsnaz officer stated: ‘We’ll discover the person and punish him for betraying his brothers to the fullest extent of our nation’s legislation.’
A second officer stated merely: ‘ He is not going to reside…’
It comes as unbiased Telegram channel Volya – which screens either side within the battle – drew a hyperlink between the case of the slain pilot and the murky circumstances surrounding the demise of multimillionaire Sergey Protosenya, 55.
The former oligarch, a deputy chairman of Russian gasoline 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.
But 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 battle 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 useless
Spanish detectives have launched a probe into the pilot’s demise. Pictured: Spanish Civil Guard officers on the storage the place Kuzminov’s physique was discovered
Russian gasoline tycoon Sergei Protosenya, his spouse Natalya, 53, and teenage daughter Maria have been discovered useless of their Spanish mansion, in Lloret de Mar, on April 19, 2022
Former oligarch Protosenya, a deputy chairman of Russian gasoline firm Novatek, was discovered hanged in spring 2022
Volya claims each the Russian secret providers and lengthy established mafia clans are lively in Spain, giving the Russian state a terrifying attain.
‘The Russians have been dwelling 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],’ stated the Volya report.
‘Among these folks 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 lots concerning the withdrawal of cash to the EU and its legalisation there.
‘They tried to cowl up that demise as an alleged home homicide… But they didn’t disguise themselves with Kuzminov,’ reported Volya.
‘They promised to punish him – they punished.’
It warned: ‘While European politicians are expressing concern about Navalny’s homicide, Russian assassins and intelligence companies are lively and, sadly, efficiently working all through Europe and different elements of the world.’