By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MADRID (Worthy News) – The war in Ukraine was brought to the streets of Spain on Wednesday as unidentified gunmen shot and killed a high-profile former Ukrainian politician.
A gunman or gunmen assassinated Andriy Portnov outside a school in a wealthy suburb of Madrid, the capital, witnesses said.
Portnov, 51, was a senior aide to Ukraine’s former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted in the 2014 Euromaidan revolution.
Investigators said Portnov was also known as “a court fixer” because he used his influence to buy access to and influence decisions in Ukraine’s courts and undermine reform efforts.
Since 2019, Portnov reportedly took steps to control the Ukrainian judiciary, influence associated legislation, sought to place loyal officials in senior judiciary positions, and purchase” court decisions.
Much of these activities were apparently managed from abroad as he fled Ukraine in 2014, according yo to sources familiar with the situation.
Portnov reportedly lived in Russia in 2015 before relocating to Austria. It wasn’t immediately clear when he moved to Spain. In 2018, Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, opened an investigation against him on suspicion of state treason, alleging his involvement in Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. The criminal case was closed in 2019.
RECEIVING CALL
Yet, his life was cut short on Wednesday when Spanish police said they received a call about the shooting of a Ukrainian citizen at 9.15 a.m. local time outside the elite American School of Madrid, located in the Pozuelo de Alarcon area.
He was the latest victim in a series of killings involving high-profile Russians and Ukrainians in Spain since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Spain has a significant wealthy expatriate population from both countries, despite reported concerns about their influence and impact on regular tourism and investments.
In April 2022, a Russian businessman tied to Russia’s gas company Novatek was found dead in an apparent suicide, together with his wife and daughter, who had suffered stab wounds, investigators said.
In February 2024, a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with his helicopter was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the parking garage of his apartment block near Alicante.
Separately in November and December 2022, six letter bombs were sent to high-profile targets around Spain, including to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, government offices, a European Union satellite company, and the U.S. Embassy.
A 76-year-old retired Spanish civil servant whose social media searches suggested sympathy for Russia was jailed for the offences.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israel said Tuesday it has begun enforcing new registration regulations for international nongovernmental organizations, moving to bar 37 groups from operating in Gaza and the West Bank after they failed to comply with requirements introduced earlier this year.
Federal authorities are launching what the Department of Homeland Security described as a “massive operation” in Minnesota aimed at identifying, arresting, and removing criminals accused of defrauding American taxpayers.
Israel and the United States have agreed to give Hamas a two-month window to disarm, according to a report by Israel Hayom, following an overnight meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Department of Justice will continue investigating what she described as widespread “government weaponization” by officials who served under the Obama and Biden administrations, even after courts dismissed charges against several high-profile figures.
Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on the southern Yemeni port city of Mukalla on Dec. 30, saying the operation targeted weapons and military vehicles allegedly shipped from the United Arab Emirates to support separatist forces. Riyadh warned that its national security was a “red line” and demanded Emirati forces leave Yemen within 24 hours.
New details are emerging surrounding the U.S. strike on a suspected drug loading site in Venezuela, with multiple reports claiming a CIA drone carried it out.
A 14-year-old Christian girl is recovering after being abducted and raped in Pakistan’s Punjab province, according to family members and police.