Zürcher Nachrichten - Spain probes organised crime link in murder of ex-Ukraine MP

Andriy Portnov, 51, was shot dead on Wednesday morning outside an American private school in Pozuelo de Alarcon, a wealthy Madrid suburb, shortly after dropping off his children.

The shooters then fled the scene towards a wooded area and remain at large, according to the police.

Portnov was deputy head of the presidential administration under former Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who fled to Russia in 2014 after cracking down on pro-EU protests in Ukraine.

The United States imposed sanctions on Portnov in 2021 for alleged corruption, saying he had used his influence in the judiciary and law enforcement to buy access in Ukrainian courts and undermine reform efforts.

Despite Portnov's political past, investigators believe organised crime is the most likely motive in his killing, a police source said Thursday, though no motive has been ruled out.

Portnov lived in Russia and Austria before returning to his home country following the election of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to media reports, he used his connections within the spheres of power to escape Ukraine in 2022, despite a ban on men liable for military service leaving the country during the Russian invasion.

Ukraine has claimed or been linked with several assassinations in Russia and Moscow-occupied parts of Ukraine, targeting political and military officials or ideological supporters of the war.

Killings have also been attributed to Russia. In February 2024, the corpse of a helicopter pilot who had deserted the Russian military was found riddled with bullets near the Spanish coastal resort of Benidorm.

Spain hosts more than 300,000 Ukrainians, most of them beneficiaries of temporary protection granted after they fled the Russian invasion, according to government data.

R.Bernasconi--NZN