February 20, 2024
Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine found dead in Spain
A Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine last year has been found dead in Spain, according to a Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson.
Spokesman Andriy Yusov commented on Maxim Kuzminov’s death to Ukrainian public broadcaster, but did not provide further details.
Spain’s EFE news agency, citing investigators, reported that the body found on February 13 in Villajoyosa, near Alicante in southern Spain, was Kuzminov.
Kuzminov, who landed in Ukraine in August last year in a fully equipped Mi-8 helicopter, had a Ukrainian passport and was living in Spain under a different identity, EFE reported.
Kuzminov said he was offered security guarantees, new documents and compensation when he defected.
According to Ukrainian military intelligence, two Russian crew members who were also on the flight and were unaware of the defection plan died after landing.
When asked about Kuzminov, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, told Russian media: “In Russia, it is customary to say well or not say anything at all about the dead.”
“This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse the moment he planned this dirty and horrible crime,” he told TASS news agency.
kb/nm (dpa, EFE, Reuters, AP, AFP)