Who is Andriy Porntnov? Former Ukrainian politician killed on school run in Spain
A former Ukrainian politician and key aide to the ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych has been killed.
Andriy Portnov, 51, was gunned down on Wednesday morning outside the gates of the American School in Madrid's affluent neighbourhood of Pozuelo.
Police received the call about the shooting at 9.15 am local time. Radio station Cadena SER said the man was taking his children to school when he was shot.
Mr Portnov, from the eastern region of Luhansk, is a former Ukrainian politician closely tied to Yanukovych, having served as deputy head of the presidential office from 2010 to 2014.
Yanukovych was Ukraine 's last pro-Russian president, who was ousted in 2014, following pro-democracy and pro-European Union protests, after he refused to sign an EU association pact, choosing instead to do an energy deal with Russia.
During Yanukovych's presidency, Portnov was widely viewed as a pro-Kremlin political figure and was involved in drafting legislation, known as the 'laws of January 16', which were aimed at persecuting participants of the 2014 revolution in Ukraine. According to Ukrainian media, he later denied a role in their development but admitted to approving them for the then-president's signature.
When Yanukovych fled Ukraine for Moscow that same year, effectively ending his premiership, Portnov reportedly followed him to the Russian capital.
Portnov then faced numerous investigations and sanctions against him, both from Ukraine and the European Union.
Ukraine's interior ministry labelled him a wanted person in 2015 but dropped the accusations a year later. The Council of the European Union slapped personal sanctions against him, along with 18 other associates of Yanukovych, but these were also later dropped due to a lack of evidence.
He moved to Vienna, Austria, a year later, before eventually returning to Ukraine, where he ran a TV show criticising the presidency of Petro Poroshenko, the billionaire who assumed office after Yanukovych was ousted.
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, and Portnov filed his own lawsuit demanding the allegations against him be treated as false.
But in 2021, the US state department announced sweeping sanctions against Portnov, describing him as a 'court fixer'.
'Widely known as a court fixer, Portnov was credibly accused of using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine's courts and undermining reform efforts,' the department said in a statement.
'As of 2019, Portnov took steps to control the Ukrainian judiciary, influence associated legislation, sought to place loyal officials in senior judiciary positions, and purchase court decisions.'
They added that they believed Portnov had colluded with a high-ranking Ukrainian government official to shape the country's legal institutions to their advantage and influence Ukraine's Constitutional Court. He was also reportedly involved in an attempt to influence the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General.
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Daily Mail
38 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Amazing new footage from Ukraine's daring Operation Spiderweb shows drone's whole flight across flaming Russian airbase before it smashes into one of Putin's nuclear bombers
The Ukrainian military has released new footage of its devastating drone attack that left dozens of Vladimir Putin 's irreplaceable nuclear bombers up in flames. Ukraine's most daring attack of the war to date, dubbed Operation Spiderweb, saw more than 100 first-person view (FPV) kamikaze drones smuggled into Russia in wooden containers disguised as modular homes. They were loaded onto civilian trucks and driven behind enemy lines by Russian lorry drivers seemingly unaware of what they were carrying. The vehicles were parked within range of five airfields stretching from northern Russia down to Siberia, at which point the hidden roofs of the wooden cabins were opened remotely and the FPV drones took to the skies. What happened next served as a devastating blow to Putin's forces, as 41 of his prized aircraft - worth some £1.5billion - were decimated in just a matter of minutes. Footage shared by the Ukrainian military earlier today shows the exact moment one kamikaze drone dramatically burst out of its wooden crate and sped across the Russian countryside towards an airbase. As it reaches it target, huge plumes of smoke can be seen rising from several nuclear bombers already alight, with one jet engulfed by a devastating fireball. Amid the destruction, the drone spots one jet still in tact, a TU-22 nuclear bomber, and immediately races towards it before inevitably self destructing. The devastating strikes took place on Sunday, with dramatic videos posted by pro-Kremlin military bloggers showing flames engulfing aircraft at multiple locations, including one deep inside Siberia. At least four more Russian strategic airbases were struck: Olenya in the Arctic region of Murmansk; Dyagilevo in western Russia; Ivanovo, northeast of Moscow; and Podmoskovye in Moscow. Sources inside Ukraine's SBU security service claimed the operation crippled 34 per cent of Russia's long-range strategic bombers often used to launch cruise missiles into Ukraine. In a statement, the SBU said at least 41 long-range bombers had been damaged or destroyed. These, they say, include the nuclear capable Tu-95 and Tu-22M as well as the surveillance A-50 'Mainstay' plane, worth an estimated £250,000,000 that is used as a radar and command centre, of which Russia is only believed to have around ten in operation. 'Mainstays' are critical to coordinating Russian fighter jets and air defences, meaning that this will have severely hampered Putin's war effort. Moscow has long stopped producing any of these aircraft meaning, if confirmed, these assets could not be replaced. There are only around 120 Tu-95s and Tu-22Ms in operation and they are vital for Putin's nightly bombing raids on Ukraine. They had been moved to bases thousands of miles away from Ukraine, out of reach of Western-donated Storm Shadows and ATACMS which have a range of up to 185 miles. As it reaches it target, huge plumes of smoke can be seen rising from several nuclear bombers already, with one jet engulfed by a devastating fireball In images released by the Ukrainian secret services, the wooden containers are seen packed with 117 FPV kamikaze drones – which allow pilots to control them remotely through a live feed. Dozens of black drones are lined side-by-side in the mobile wooden cabins. The roofs had hidden compartments into which the small flying weapons were stashed. With the help of front-positioned cameras, the missile-loaded drones headed straight for Russia's highly expensive bomber planes. Amid the drone blasts, one Russian man recalled to Mash Telegram channel throwing stones into the backs of the trucks in an attempt to stop the drones from taking off. Footage captured the moment dozens of other Russian locals launched rocks towards the trucks with some climbing on top of the vehicles to get a better shot. A video surfaced showing one of the trucks used to launch the Ukrainian (FPV) drones against Russian airbases, moments before it self-destructed. The footage captures a Russian man entering the cargo truck, unaware of the built-in self-destruction mechanism, which ignites seconds later, resulting in a massive explosion. The truck's self-destruct system activates to ensure that no evidence or technology can be recovered by Russian forces. This method prevents reverse engineering and eliminates any traceable Ukrainian assets left behind. The trucks are all linked to a mysterious man named Artem, 37, believed to be Ukrainian, and had reportedly been loaded in Chelyabinsk. All drivers reported receiving cryptic phone calls with instructions on exactly where to stop just hours before the drone launches. 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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Germany plans rapid bunker expansion amid fears of Russian attack
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Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Ukraine's race to rebuild power plants under Russian bombardment
Valeria was about to take a bite of pizza when the Iskander landed nearby. The blast from the Russian missile shattered all the windows in the Mykolaiv CHP (combined heat and power) plant in southern Ukraine, igniting a gas fire and propelling shrapnel through the canteen. 'I had imagined what I might do when a missile or a Shahed [drone] comes, like if it really happens to me, and I had told myself I should be really calm at that moment,' says the 27-year-old. She and her twin sister Alyona led a hyperventilating colleague out of the plant's office to her car. The trio were still driving away when the second Iskander hit, devastating the plant's boiler-room. After that Oct 10 strike, the plant was targeted again, in January, February and May, each time with Shahed drones. On Thursday night, Russia renewed its campaign against Ukraine's national energy infrastructure, breaking a loosely followed ceasefire Vladimir Putin agreed with Donald Trump in a phone call on March 18. Power facilities were struck in the western city of Ternopil and targeted in other areas, days after Putin warned he would avenge Ukraine's elaborate 'Spiderweb' attack on Russia's bomber fleet. 'The scumbags haven't hit the energy sector en masse for five months,' wrote Myroshnykov, a Ukrainian military blogger. 'Ballistics on transformers – only the scumbags could do that.' On Friday night, Moscow struck the northeastern city of Kharkiv with what the mayor described as the 'most powerful attack' since the start of the war, involving more than 50 Iranian-made drones, one rocket and four guided bombs. At least three people were killed and 22 wounded in the devastating strikes. Harrowing scenes saw bloodied residents being carried out on stretchers from their homes by rescue workers wearing gas masks. Respite is direly needed. Ukraine faces shortfalls in both electricity and natural gas production after the wave of Russian attacks – and every hour without further explosions allows for the progress of repairs. Few appreciate the challenges like Dmytro Myroshnychenko, the chairman of Mykolaiv CHP plant. On a tour of the facility, he grimly points out the legacy of Russia's bombardment: the boiler-room is a tangle of charred iron and splintered rebar; shrapnel perforates an oil tank; flaps of corrugated roof panelling limp over the walls of the destroyed turbine control centre. In full health, the Mykolaiv CHP heats 160,000 homes and provides 26MW of electricity to the national grid. The latter was ended by a February drone strike. That the plant managed to deliver heat over winter is testament to the grit of its staff. After the first Iskander strike in October, Mr Myroschnychenko ran through the facility to check if anyone was injured. 'My first thought was, everyone is lying on the floor,' he says. Luckily, everyone survived. The next day, repairs began. Russia's attack hit two weeks before the start of Mykolaiv's heating season, when residents can turn on their radiators as temperatures sink below freezing. Staff were nervous coming to work but 'everyone understood the importance, as if we didn't rebuild the city would be left without heat'. Only interrupted by air raid alerts, workers frantically shifted pipelines from the two ruined boilers to a 1930s predecessor. When he pushed the button to turn on the heat again, Mr Myroschnychenko felt little relief. 'I knew more attacks would be coming,' he says, 'so we started preparing for them.' The £29.5million needed to build two new boilers is prohibitive; instead, the plant is focused on keeping its elderly system running. Four small metal air raid shelters have been placed on the plant floor, in addition to three underground bunkers. Gennady, a 47-year-old machinist, escaped the boiler room by touch in one strike, unable to see through the clouds of dust. Now, when sirens warn of an impending strike, he often has to climb up and down several ladders: unlike the destroyed computerised systems, the surviving parts have to be operated by hand. He jokes there is one advantage: 'It is difficult to break them so easily, as there are no electronics.' But they are harder to shut down in an emergency. One new metal air raid shelter stands a few feet from the boiler. As Gennady opens the door, a worker caught in a lunchtime nap guiltily slips out. The most serious challenge facing Ukraine ahead of the next heating season is a shortage of gas, with underground storage badly hit by the Russian strikes: Mykolaiv CHP lost large quantities when the Iskander destroyed a pipeline. 'We need to find $2.5 billion and purchase gas, putting aside the risk of further strikes. The task is quite clear, but extremely difficult,' Oleksandr Kharchenko, the director of Ukraine's energy research centre, told RBC-Ukraine, a local news outlet, this month. Last winter, Ukraine avoided a crisis. Record high temperatures and low industrial use spared residents from major power cuts. Experts are calling for small boilers, firewood and coal to be delivered to the worst-hit cities – Mykolaiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Kryvih Rih – before winter. Should there be long-lasting blackouts, further waves of refugees will head west. Others will freeze to death. In Mykolaiv CHP, the workers plough on with gallows humour. The plant knows war: it was destroyed by the Nazis when they were forced out of Mykolaiv by the Red Army in 1943. A portrait of Lenin has been left above the doorway in one workshop, with the name 'Morozov' scrawled underneath; a decades-old reference to a lookalike employee. The shipyard next door built Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetzov, before this invasion began. All the plant's staff are protected from conscription. But it needs another 40 people to get up to speed, admits Mr Myroshnychenko. At work, Valeria and her friends no longer eat pizza. The next time they sat down to one after the October strike, an air raid sounded immediately. 'It's become a joke,' she says – and another reason to loathe the Russians.
