Russian defector pilot Maksim Kuzminov shot dead in Spain

Maksim Kuzminov, a Russian military helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine in 2023, was shot several times and killed in a residential complex in Villajoyosa (Alicante) on 13 February 2024.

Established by. No court or government has formally attributed the killing; Russian state involvement has been alleged by unnamed Spanish intelligence sources (El País) and Western intelligence sources (Wall Street Journal, June 2024).

Latest. A Villajoyosa investigating judge provisionally closed the case for lack of an identified perpetrator (order of September 2025, made public 9 December 2025); the case can be reopened if new evidence emerges.

Link to the war against Ukraine. Kuzminov flew a Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine in August 2023 in a defection operation organised by Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR).