A Russian Army defector was found dead in Spain in an underground garage. His body showed signs of bullet wounds and being run over by a car.
The former military pilot defected to Ukraine in 2023. Following his surrender, he became a big critic of Putin before disappearing by to the West. The NY Post reports:
A Russian pilot who famously defected to Ukraine in 2023 with his military helicopter was found savagely murdered in an underground parking garage in Spain last week — as Russia’s spy chief labeled him a “traitor” and “moral corpse.”
Maksim Kuzminov’s body was discovered Feb. 13 in the town of Villajoyosa near Alicante in southern Spain. The 33-year-old had been riddled with at least a half-dozen bullets and was run over by his attackers’ car, reported Spain’s state news agency EFE.
The unknown culprits are suspected to work for Russian intelligence. In previous interviews, Putin has called traitors as the most despicable enemies of Russia, more than foreigners. The NY Times continues:
The death of such a high profile defector is likely to fuel speculation that it was the work of Russia’s intelligence services and exacerbate already heightened tensions between Moscow and European capitals. President Vladimir V. Putin has made no secret of his deep disdain for defectors and has allowed targeted assassinations of Russian informants abroad, Western security officials say.
Moscow’s foreign intelligence chief appeared to support the idea that Mr. Kuzminov was dead with comments that condemned his defection. “This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse at the very moment he planned his dirty and terrible crime,” Sergei Naryshkin told the Russian state news agency TASS on Tuesday, commenting on media reports of Mr. Kuzminov’s death.
The Russian government has spent considerable resources hunting down and assassinating defectors. While its conventional army is not performing great against Ukraine, Russia punches far above its weight in domestic and foreign intelligence operations.
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