MADRID, February 22. /TASS/. The government of Spain was unaware that pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who hijacked a Russian military helicopter in 2023, was in the country, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said.
"He arrived freely, and the government had no confirmation that this man stayed here, in Spain," the minister said, according to EFE.
Previously, El Pais reported, citing governmental sources, that the Spanish intelligence was not officially informed that Kuzminov arrived in the Alicante Province, where, presumably, he was found dead on February 13. According to El Periodico, the man entered Spain in October, 2023, under a Ukrainian passport with fake name and birth date.
On February 19, the EFE confirmed, citing its sources close to the investigation, that Kuzminov died in Spain. His death was also confirmed by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (GUR).
The Alicante Province Civil Guard told TASS that the law enforcement is investigating a presumed murder of a Ukrainian citizen, aged 33, in the autonomous community of Valencia. The body was reportedly discovered with gunshot wounds. Police officers acknowledge that the papers that were found on the body could be fake.