He fled in an attack helicopter to Ukraine: defected Russian pilot apparently shot in Spain

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At the end of August 2023, Russian army helicopter pilot Maxim Kuzminov (†29) piloted a Mi-8 transport helicopter on Ukrainian territory. He fled from Russia to Ukraine and defected: a coup for the Ukrainian secret service.

Kuzminov’s family received $500,000 and was given safety beforehand. Now, however, Kuzminov appears to have been murdered. A Ukrainian government spokesman confirmed his death. Spanish media reported last Wednesday that a Ukrainian was killed with five shots in the Alicante region on Spain’s east coast. However, Spanish police have not yet confirmed the identity of the murdered man. The investigation would go in all directions.

Ukrainian military intelligence confirms the death

Shortly afterwards, a burnt-out car was found in a neighboring town. Russia’s state news agency Tass spread the news of Kuzminov’s death citing Spanish media – even before the Ukrainian government confirmed it.

Ukrainian military intelligence claims that Kuzminov overpowered a Russian Mi-8 helicopter in Ukraine on August 23, 2023. He said that he himself turned to the Ukrainian side because he did not want to participate in the Russian invasion. Kuzminov later said he persuaded other crew members to surrender, but they “behaved a bit aggressively” and were killed. He said the helicopter came under fire as it crossed the border. The pilot assumed that the shots came from the Russian side.

This was an embarrassment for the Russian government led by Vladimir Putin (71). Kuzminov was declared an enemy of the state. In October 2023, correspondent Sergei Zinin reported on the Rossiya 1 television channel that Russian special services had received orders to kill Kuzminov. (An)

Source: Blick