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Maksym Kuzminov, a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine final 12 months, was discovered shot lifeless in Spain.
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Kuzminov had urged different Russians to defect and stated they might be set for all times.
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Spanish media reported he was dwelling in Spain with a Ukrainian passport beneath an alternate title.
The Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with a Mi-8 helicopter in August was discovered shot to demise in Spain final week, in response to media studies in Ukraine and Spain.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s navy intelligence confirmed the demise of Maksym Kuzminov to the Kyiv Post however didn’t present particulars. In line with the outlet, Russian media reported Kuzminov had been discovered lifeless with at the least 5 bullet wounds in an underground car parking zone in southern Spain, close to Alicante.
EFE, a Spanish information company, reported that Kuzminov’s physique was discovered on February 13 and that he had been dwelling in Spain with a Ukrainian passport and an alternate title, in response to Reuters. Spanish police couldn’t affirm to the outlet that the physique discovered was that of Kuzminov, however an unnamed police supply stated the sufferer might have lived beneath a pretend title.
Reuters stated La Informacion, a Spanish newspaper, reported two suspects left the scene in a car that was later discovered burned. Police initially thought the demise might have been gang-related, The Guardian reported.
Particular Operation ‘Titmouse’
Kuzminov, a former captain in Russia’s 319th separate helicopter regiment, defected to Ukraine in August when he landed a Russian Mi-8 AMTSh on a Ukrainian air base in Kharkiv.
Ukrainian officers on the time stated the defection was a part of a six-month particular operation referred to as “Titmouse,” wherein the pilot’s household had been moved from Russia to Ukraine earlier than the defection.
Kuzminov also had two other crew members on board who had been shocked after they realized they had been touchdown in Ukraine. Ukrainian navy officers stated they might not give up and had been “eradicated.”
Kuzminov was publicly recognized because the pilot by Ukraine Protection Intelligence in September. On the time, he stated he defected as a result of he didn’t need to commit warfare crimes.
“What is occurring now’s merely genocide of the Ukrainian folks: each Ukrainian and Russian,” he stated in an interview launched by Ukraine Protection Intelligence. “The motivation for my motion was to not contribute to those crimes. Ukraine will unequivocally win this warfare just because the persons are very united.”
Ukrainian officers stated Kuzminov, who had additionally introduced stolen fighter jet parts with him when he defected, could be rewarded $500,000, per a Ukrainian law incentivizing Russian soldiers to hand over military equipment. The legislation stipulated half one million because the reward for a fight helicopter, whereas a fight plane would earn a Russian soldier $1,000,000.
Officers stated Kuzminov was additionally offering Ukraine with key Russian aviation intelligence.
Through the September interview, Kuzminov, 28 on the time, inspired different Russian troopers to observe his lead and defect to Ukraine, promising they might be set for all times.
“You may be supplied for, for the remainder of your lives. You may be supplied a job in every single place, it doesn’t matter what you do,” he stated.
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