Spanish news agency Efe has confirmed, citing sources, that Russian helicopter pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who hijacked a Russian helicopter, has been killed in Spain.
“The man shot dead on February 13 in Villajoyosa is Maxim Kuzminov, confirmed Efe sources close to the investigation,” the statement said.
It is clarified that the civil guard initially investigated the incident in Villajoyosa as a settling of scores, as the victim received half a dozen gunshot wounds, and then the car in which the shots were fired drove over his body.
Earlier, the Ukrainian publication “Ukrainska Pravda” reported, citing the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, that the Russian defector pilot may have been killed in Spain over a woman.
In September 2023, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense reported that on August 9, Kuzminov hijacked a Mi-8 helicopter and flew it to the Kharkiv region from the Kursk airfield. On board, in addition to Kuzminov, there were two crew members who, according to the statement of the Ukrainian intelligence, were killed due to resistance. On September 7 of last year, the press secretary of the president, Dmitry Peskov, refused to comment on the information about the hijacked Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine, saying that this is the prerogative of the Ministry of Defense.
Earlier, a pilot of the Armed Forces of Ukraine arrived in Russia on a hijacked Su-27 aircraft.
