A former Ukrainian politician was shot and killed outside a school in a wealthy suburb of Madrid, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry.
Police responded to a call regarding the shooting of a Ukrainian citizen at 9:15 AM local time outside the prestigious American School of Madrid, situated in Pozuelo de Alarcon, as stated by Madrid police.
“Multiple assailants shot him in the back and head before fleeing into a nearby forest,” a source from the Interior Ministry reported.
The victim, Andriy Portnov, aged 51, was a senior aide to Ukraine’s pro-Russian former President Viktor Yanukovich, who was removed from power during a popular uprising in 2014.
In 2021, the US Treasury Department placed him on its sanctions list, citing his involvement in “cultivating extensive connections to Ukraine’s judicial and law enforcement apparatus through bribery.”
Police arrived at the scene shortly after 9 AM local time.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Spain has witnessed several notable crimes involving Russian and Ukrainian nationals, given the substantial expatriate communities from both nations.
In 2022, six letter bombs were dispatched to various targets across Spain, including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the Ukrainian and US embassies, and several government offices.
A retired Spanish civil servant, whose online activity indicated a pro-Russian stance, was imprisoned for these offenses.
In February 2024, a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with his helicopter was discovered dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the parking garage of his apartment building near Alicante.
