A man who served as an aide to a former Ukrainian president has been shot and killed in Madrid, local authorities have said.
An unidentified gunman – or gunmen – shot former politician Andriy Portnov outside the gates of an American school in the Pozuelo area of the Spanish capital on Wednesday morning, according to a source close to the investigation.
Police received a report at 7.15am local time and rushed to the scene, where Mr Portnov is believed to have been taking his children to school, radio station Cadena SER said.
He served as a senior aide to Ukraine’s former president Viktor Yanukovich before he was ousted in 2014.
The pro-Russian leader was driven out by Ukraine’s 2014 Orange Revolution – and has been living in exile in Russia ever since.
Since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, crimes have been committed against several high-profile Russians and Ukrainians in Spain, which has large ex-pat populations from both countries.
Spain sees rise in targeted attacks
In November and December 2022, six letter bombs were sent to targets across the country, to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, as well as its US counterpart.
A 76-year-old retired Spanish civil servant was jailed over the offences after police found his social media searches suggested he was sympathetic towards Russia’s invasion.
In April that year, a Russian businessman linked to the country’s Novatek gas company was found dead with his wife and daughter, having all sustained stab wounds.
In February last year, a Russian pilot who defected to the Ukrainian side was found dead with gunshot wounds in the car park of his apartment near Alicante.
