Spain rejects Ukraine's bid for joint probe into pro-Russian politician Portnov's murder

Yahoo

4 days ago

Spanish law enforcement has declined Ukraine's proposal to form a joint task force to investigate the murder of Andrii Portnov, a lawyer and influential figure linked to Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian former president of Ukraine who fled the country after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda article Without trial or investigation. What was Andrii Portnov doing on the eve of his murder?
Quote: "Following Portnov's murder, Ukraine proposed forming a joint investigative group with Spanish law enforcement, but the offer was rejected. Spanish investigators have not ruled out the involvement of Ukrainian security services."
Details: Sources cited by Ukrainska Pravda suggest two possible motives for Ukraine's interest in a joint investigation. One is to access investigative materials, including Portnov's phones and gadgets, which may contain sensitive information. The other is a desire, particularly from Oleh Tatarov, a key figure overseeing Ukraine's law enforcement, to expedite the investigation and clarify the circumstances of the killing.
The Spanish authorities have also refused to release Portnov's body to Ukraine, with expectations that this might occur early next week, according to the publication.
For reference: Portnov was deputy head of the presidential administration under pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2010-2014. He denied crimes committed by security forces against participants of the Revolution of Dignity in the winter of 2013-2014 and fled Ukraine. He returned in 2019 on the eve of the inauguration of newly elected President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Portnov was also considered an influential shadow handler of Ukrainian courts.
In 2018, criminal proceedings were opened against Portnov for treason. However, in 2019, Portnov stated on his Telegram that the Security Service of Ukraine had closed the criminal case against him, and published the relevant documents.
In 2019, investigative journalists released recordings of conversations from the office of the notorious judge Pavlo Vovk. From the conversations on the tapes, journalists extrapolated that Portnov, together with Vovk and the then head of the President's Office, Andrii Bohdan, illegally influenced the dismissal of the head of the Constitutional Court, Stanislav Shevchuk.
In April 2020, at the beginning of Iryna Venediktova's term as Prosecutor General, Portnov blackmailed her, saying that he had compromising information about her illegal activities.
In the same year, Oleksandr Sokolov, then acting director of the State Bureau of Investigations, admitted that there were "influence groups" within law enforcement agencies that disclosed confidential information and important details of investigations to former officials, including Portnov.
In December 2021, it became known that the US government had imposed sanctions against Andrii Portnov and his charitable foundation.
Portnov was 51 years old.
Background: Portnov was shot dead on 21 May 2025 outside the American School in Madrid's Pozuelo de Alarcón suburb, shortly after dropping off his children. Spanish police suspect the attack was meticulously planned, possibly by a professional assassin using a silenced pistol, with at least one accomplice and a prearranged escape route. No arrests have been made and motives under consideration include organised crime and political retribution.
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