Online Reporter
Former Ukrainian lawmaker and presidential adviser Andrey Portnov was fatally shot in a suburb of the Spanish capital, Madrid, on yesterday, local media has reported.
The circumstances of the murder suggest it may have been an “extrajudicial execution,” as Portnov may have had access to information that could threaten figures in Vladimir Zelensky’s administration, Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s ambassador-at-large overseeing a special mission on alleged Ukrainian war crimes, has said.
The killing occurred in Pozuelo de Alarcon, according to the newspaper El Pais. Portnov, 51, was reportedly approached by two or three assailants and shot at least five times, including three times in the head, while inspecting the trunk of his Mercedes car, near a private school attended by his children.
Spanish authorities have confirmed a homicide took place in the area but are yet to formally identify the victim.
Portnov, a lawyer by training, served in the Ukrainian parliament from 2006 to 2010.
He later joined President Viktor Yanukovich’s administration, overseeing judicial reform as deputy chief of staff and helping draft a new criminal code that was adopted in 2012.
Ukrainian intelligence services have previously claimed or implied involvement in a number of targeted killings of individuals labelled as enemies by Kiev.
Some of those assassinations have occurred outside Ukraine, including the December 2023 shooting of former Ukrainian lawmaker Ilya Kiva near Moscow. — Russia Today
