Kuzminov’s escape and cooperation with Ukrainian intelligence have been extensively publicized.
Every week in the past, a physique was present in a car parking zone in La Villajoyosa, Spain. The person who was shot was recognized as a Ukrainian nationwide.
However after a number of days of investigation, police discovered that he was really Maxim Kuzminov, a Russian pilot who defected and surrendered to the Ukrainian military in August final 12 months on a Mi-8 helicopter.
His identification was confirmed via fingerprints as a result of the paperwork he was carrying have been false.
Along with the Spanish Nationwide Guard, Ukrainian navy intelligence spokesman Andrei Yusov additionally confirmed the dying of the previous Russian soldier on Monday.
Kuzminov’s escape and cooperation with Ukrainian intelligence have been extensively publicized.
The story was propaganda for the nation’s warfare effort: a victory for Ukraine and a blow for Russia.
Final summer season, a Russian Mi-8 navy transport helicopter landed in Ukraine, setting off alarm bells. Ukrainian intelligence claimed on the time that the operation was not a part of a Russian incursion however was coordinated by them.
There have been two Russian troopers on board, who have been unaware of the pilot’s plan. In accordance with sources quoted by Pravda, each males died after arriving in Ukraine.
Earlier than the aircraft’s closing vacation spot was identified, Russian bloggers reported the aircraft’s disappearance however claimed it was resulting from pilot disorientation.
The pilots deliberate to deliver as a lot of the arsenal as potential to Ukraine.
In return, the Russian pilot’s household was transferred to Ukraine to dwell with him. He additionally acquired new paperwork and a half-million-dollar settlement.
Kuzminov graduated from the Sizran Aviation College in southern Russia however by no means thought of collaborating within the Ukrainian warfare.
“I remorse what occurred, the killings, the tears and the blood,” he stated in an announcement.
“I do not need to be complicit in Russia’s crimes,” he added.
When Ukrainian intelligence contacted him with the plan, Kuzminov was reluctant. However he determined to take a threat and flew the helicopter low to keep away from radar detection.
The pilot defined that nobody in Russia knew the place the helicopter was for a number of days till it landed in Ukraine.
In accordance with Russia’s official information company RIA Novosti, the top of Russia’s overseas intelligence service Sergey Naryshkin claimed that Kuzminov was a “legal traitor” and “since he deliberate this soiled crime, he He’s already a morally bankrupt particular person.”
It isn’t clear who killed Narishkin.