Madrid – SABA: The Spanish Ministry of Interior announced on Wednesday the assassination of former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov, after unidentified gunmen opened fire on him outside a school in an upscale suburb of Madrid.
According to Reuters, a source in the Interior Ministry said: “Police arrived at the scene after receiving calls at 9:15 a.m. (07:15 GMT) about a man shot on the street outside the American School in Madrid, in the suburb of Pozuelo de Alarcón, west of the capital.”
The source added, “Several individuals shot him in the back and head, then fled toward a wooded area.”
A spokesperson for emergency services confirmed that Portnov was found dead with three gunshot wounds.
Portnov, 51, had been a senior aide to former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted during popular protests in 2014.
He left for Russia that same year and later faced investigations in Ukraine on charges of treason and embezzlement. Although he was sanctioned by the European Union, those charges and sanctions were later dropped.
In 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department added Portnov to its sanctions list, stating that he had “developed extensive relationships with Ukraine’s judiciary and law enforcement through bribery.”