An announcement was made by the Spanish National Police on the discovery of the remains of a Russian soldier who had defected to Ukraine last year. According to Spanish authorities, Maksim Kuzminov was named as the victim. They went on to say that he was discovered in the village of La Cala, close to Madrid, with multiple gunshot wounds to various regions of his body.
Last year, the Russian defector stole an army chopper and flew over the war lines into Ukrainian territory, making headlines for abruptly leaving his station in Russia. In the past, the Ukrainian military claimed that Kuzminov’s escape was orchestrated by their intelligence services, who had been plotting for months to have the Russian soldier defect and set the stage for his departure.
A Mi-8 AMTSh helicopter carrying various components of Russian Sukhoi fighter jets was Kuzminov’s means of departure from Russia. Despite rumors to the contrary, Ukrainian officials have never verified whether or not intelligence services had requested that Kuzminov deliver the airplane components to Ukraine.
His death was verified by Andrii Yusov, Ukraine’s military spokesman, during a press conference in Kyiv. Meanwhile, Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, confirmed to Moscow-based reporters that the Russian defector had been slain in Spain. In his words, Kuzminov was a “criminal” and a “traitor” who had abandoned his native nation and had become a “moral corpse” plotting a “terrible” and “dirty” crime.
Reports surfaced in several media sites suggesting that Alex Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, had repeatedly advised Kuzminov to remain in the country. The capital, Kyiv, is supposedly a safe haven for Danilov, unlike any other Western country.
According to a statement released by the Spanish Civil Guard, Kuzminov’s body was discovered with six gunshot wounds and had been struck by a car. According to their addition, the Russian defector had paperwork identifying him as a citizen of Ukraine implanted into his body.
