Putin 'assassination' near Benidorm as police probe body found floating in pool
Authorities in Spain are looking into whether a top Ukrainian official was assassinated near the popular tourist spot of Benidorm.
The death of 61-year-old Igor Hrushevsky comes after a defected Russian helicopter pilot was assassinated in the same gated residential estate nearly 18 months ago. Hrushevsky, a former employee of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs, was found lifeless , bleeding from one ear and face down in the pool by a Ukrainian neighbour at around 9:30pm on June 29. The passer-by pulled him from the water and performed CPR and called paramedics, but nothing could be done to save him.
Civil Guard investigators initially said Hrushevsky's death was being treated as an accident. They said that 'no evidence' suggested it was a crime. Sources suggested Hrushevsky, who had been living at the La Cala Alta complex since February this year, had died from drowning.
But overnight, leading Spanish news website El Espanol reported Spain's CNI intelligence agency, the equivalent of Britain's MI5 and MI6 combined, was now investigating whether killers working for Vladimir Putin could have been behind another targeted Costa Blanca assassination. The CNI never talks about ongoing operations, while the Civil Guard in Alicante is yet to respond.
Citing sources in the intelligence services, El Espanol said agents are looking into whether there is a link between Hrushevsky's death and that of Maxim Kuzminov. Kuzminov, branded a traitor by Moscow after defecting to Ukraine in 2023.
He was shot six times around 5pm after being chased from the second floor of a basement car park underneath the La Cala Alta large residential estate.
No arrests have been made in connection with Kuzminov's killing. Spanish police concluded he could have been killed by hitmen working for Russian intelligence.
'As this is a matter concerning national security and the activities of an intelligence service, the members of the centre investigating this matter are doing so with the utmost discretion, independently of any investigation that may be carried out by the Civil Guard,' El Espanol said. 'A discovery of this nature would prove that both crimes were committed in the same way, by professional hitmen working for organised crime, but carrying out a contract paid for by the Russian intelligence services.'
A local living in the apartment complex said it was 'clear' Hrushevsky, whom reports say was once the head of the organised crime department in the central Cherkasy and Kirovohrad regions, 'didn't drown'. Identified only as 'Blanca', the resident said 'the water only comes up to my neck and I'm a short person'.
Regarding Kuzminov's killing, a car thought to have been driven by a getaway driver was later found burnt out in nearby El Campello. He had been using a false identity which initially led investigators to believe he was a 33-year-old Ukrainian national..
Spanish press said Kuzminov's undoing could have been a call to an ex-girlfriend inviting her to Alicante, a favourite with Russians and Ukrainians who have made their homes on the Costa Blanca. Putin placed Kuzminov on his most-wanted list after he was paid a reported £400,000 to steal a Mi-8 armoured Russian military chopper in a major propaganda coup for Ukraine. Two crew members were killed after landing.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
8 minutes ago
- The Guardian
US and China poised to extend tariff truce after failing to find resolution at talks
US and Chinese negotiators have agreed in principle to push back the deadline for escalating tariffs, although America's representatives said any extension would need Donald Trump's approval. Officials from both sides said after two days of talks in Stockholm that while had failed to find a resolution across the many areas of dispute they had agreed to extend a pause due to run out on 12 August. Beijing's top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, said the extension of a truce struck in mid-May would allow for further talks, without specifying when and for how long the latest pause would run. However, the US trade representative Jamieson Greer stressed that President Trump would have the 'final call' on any extension. The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, joined the talks in the Swedish capital to give weight to the US negotiating team, but appeared to be unable to break the deadlock. Bessent said he had told Chinese officials that, given US secondary tariff legislation on sanctioned Russian oil, China could face high tariffs if Beijing continued with its Russian oil purchases. China has taken an aggressive stance in response to Trump's threatened border taxes, retaliating with tariffs of its own on US goods and blocking the sale of vital rare earth metals and components used by American defence and hi-tech manufacturers. Trump is on course to impose extra tariffs on Mexico and Canada from Friday, barring last-minute deals. Vietnam, Cambodia and several other south-east Asian countries are also lobbying for extensions to talks to head off a rise in US tariffs. Negotiations between White House representatives and trading partners threatened with high tariffs have often proved to be drawn out. The EU's trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, spent more than 100 hours negotiating before the US agreed to reduce a planned 30% tariff to 15% on EU exports to the US in a deal announced on Sunday. Pascal Lamy, a former director general of the World Trade Organization, said many of the trade agreements announced by the White House were light on detail and needed further negotiation, leading to further uncertainty. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion He said the deal struck between the US and EU was 'not half-baked, but maybe just two-thirds baked, leaving much more to be discussed and agreed'. Underlining the stakes, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday upgraded its global growth forecast to 3% from an estimate in April of 2.8% after the scaling back of the worst Trump trade threats, but flagged a potential rebound in tariff rates as a major risk.
Reuters
8 minutes ago
- Reuters
Oil prices rise on trade war relief, US pressure on Russia
NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday, extending the previous day's rally, on optimism that a trade war between the U.S. and its major trading partners was abating and as President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Russia over its war in Ukraine. Brent crude futures were up $2.17, or 3.1%, at $72.21 a barrel at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), having touched their highest since June 20. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $68.96, up $2.25, or 3.37%. On Monday, both contracts settled more than 2% higher. On Tuesday, Trump said he would start imposing tariffs and other measures on Russia "10 days from today" if Moscow did not make progress toward ending the war in Ukraine. "We've amped it up. We have a hard deadline of 10 days," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group. "And there's a suggestion that other countries are going to join us." Also on Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had told Chinese officials that, given U.S. secondary tariff legislation on sanctioned Russian oil, China could face high tariffs if Beijing continued its Russian oil purchases. Bessent was speaking after two days of bilateral talks aimed at resolving longstanding economic disputes and stepping back from an escalating trade war between the world's two biggest economies. Also supporting oil prices, the trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union, while imposing a 15% import tariff on most EU goods, sidestepped a full-blown trade war between the two major allies that would have rippled across nearly a third of global trade and dimmed the outlook for fuel demand. "There is definitely some optimism around the trade deals," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. "It's not perfect, especially for the Europeans, but it is better than it could have been by a long shot." The agreement also calls for $750 billion of EU purchases of U.S. energy over the next three years, which analysts say the bloc has virtually no chance of meeting, while European companies are to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over Trump's term. Market participants also await the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady but could signal a dovish tilt due to signs of cooling inflation, said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at brokerage Phillip Nova.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Trump opens golf course in Scotland after ‘stopping a war'
With red, white and blue fireworks, a self-proclaimed mission to 'put out fires all over the world' and a nod to his family dynasty, President Trump opened his 'masterpiece' golf course. After a five-day trip to Scotland dominated by golf buggy diplomacy and the announcement of an EU trade deal, he proceeded onto his new 'Mona Lisa' course at Menie in Aberdeenshire behind a bagpiper and band. The US president was watched by members of his family and VIPs, including John Swinney, the first minister of Scotland; Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat politician; Robbie Fowler, the former footballer; Gianfranco Zola, now a football manager, and the Ukrainian footballer Andriy Shevchenko. On the final day of his visit, Trump said: 'We'll play it very quickly and then we'll go back to DC and put out fires all over the world. We did one yesterday, as you know. We stopped a war. We've stopped about five wars, so that's much more important than playing golf, as much as I like it.' Standing on the green with sons, Eric and Donald Jr, and Donald Jr's children, Spencer and Chloe, the president acknowledged that he had not always seen eye to eye with the locals, who had staged a protest beyond the security cordons on Monday, but insisted that they 'love' him now. He said: 'We started with a beautiful piece of land, but we made it much more beautiful. And the area has welcomed us. If you remember, at the beginning, it wasn't quite a welcome, but it wasn't bad. But with time, they've liked us more and more. Now they love us and we love them.' Before the ceremony, which was delayed while the president practised his swing in the driving range, loudspeakers blared out Hot Stuff and Greased Lightning along with tracks from the Beach Boys and Jerry Lee Lewis. A US flag flew beside a Scottish flag as White House staff wore 'Trump Scotland' branded clothing. Trump told his guests that the 'unbelievable development' was only possible when 'Sean Connery said 'let the bloody bloke build his golf course''. Showing that he has inherited his father's tendency towards hyperbole, Eric Trump said he had taken on his father's passion project when he 'went off to do larger things and save the free world'. He said: 'We had an unlimited budget and we exceeded it. This was his Mona Lisa. My father's always said some people really appreciate the painting on the wall. And he never did, right? 'For him, creating this, these beautiful sculpting dunes, sculpting the land. That was always his painting. 'So I hope today we honour the greatest man I know. Our best friend, a person who has led this company for 30 years and now leads the most powerful nation in the world and is doing a hell of a job.' The keen golfer took the new course for a spin EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS Earlier, the president held a 15-minute meeting with Swinney. It is understood that they discussed Gaza and oil and gas taxation in the North Sea before posing for a picture. Swinney said it had followed a 'pleasant dinner' on Monday evening when the talk 'around the table' had focused on the Open Championship, which Trump hopes will return to his course at Turnberry. On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer travelled from Turnberry to Menie with Trump on board Marine One, the president's helicopter, for what the US president said was a special 'preview' for the prime minister. A Hollywood-style promotional video for the new course showed Trump wearing a 'Trump International' blue bobble hat as he examines the plans for the links, which boasts 'the world's largest natural bunker'. He is seen saying: 'So let's see, 18 is going to be incredible. Why aren't we moving this green? I want to see the ocean. This is incredible'. Upon arrival, guests travelled past Trump MacLeod House, renamed in 2008 after Trump's Scottish-born mother Mary Anne MacLeod, 'to reflect its status as the Scottish residence of Donald J Trump'. A huge US flag flies from a flagpole outside the building designed by the architect John Smith in 1835. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the president drove off the first tee, followed by his son, Eric, and Paul McGinley, the professional golfer. The president strolled to the first tee at the new course BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES As a final hurrah, fireworks were set off, emitting red, white and blue smoke streams. When a journalist shouted out to ask what Trump would say to Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, Trump replied that as US president he was simply 'trying to get the world straightened out'. There was clearly no time for more questions as the music immediately cranked up. The president had golf to play. Swinney said that while the cost of the five-day visit had been 'significant' for Scotland, it had been worth it for the 'opportunity'.
