Murder of Russian military pilot Kuzminov in Spain: Russian security forces are suspected
Kyiv • UNN
A former KGB officer and a Russian police colonel are suspected of murdering Russian pilot Kuzminov, who hijacked an Mi-8 and fled to Ukraine. Shell casings from a Makarov pistol were found at the crime scene.
Two Russian citizens - a former KGB officer and his relative, a Russian police colonel - may be involved in the death of Russian military pilot Maksym Kuzminov, who "drove" a Russian helicopter into the territory of Ukraine and then left for Spain, reports UNN with reference to CBS and DW.
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The media do not name the alleged perpetrators. The local authorities are no longer investigating Kuzminov's murder, having transferred his case to the Spanish Civil Guard, CBS reported. It cites sources in the Spanish investigation.
On the same 60 Minutes program, Michael Weiss, editor of the investigative publication The Insider, said that Kuzminov was shot with Russian ammunition. According to Weiss, this indicates that the Kremlin wants everyone to know who carried out the massacre. Earlier, The New York Times reported that shell casings from 9mm Makarov pistol ammunition were found at the crime scene.
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Maxim Kuzminov, a pilot of the 319th Separate Helicopter Regiment of the Russian Army Aviation, was killed in Spain by unknown assailants in February 2024. He entered the country through Ukraine, where, in turn, he hijacked a Russian Mi-8 military helicopter from the Kursk region in September 2023. According to the Ukrainian media, Kuzminov himself contacted the country's intelligence and, having received security guarantees, flew the Mi-8 from the combat zone at low altitude. In turn, Russian state media reported that, in addition to the pilot, there were a navigator and a combat technician on board, who were killed.
In October 2023, Russia 1 TV channel aired a story about Kuzminov, where people who identified themselves as special forces soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces said that he "would not live to see the trial." The media also mentioned the statements made by the Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, against Kuzminov: "This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse at the very moment when he was planning his dirty and terrible crime.
