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Kuwait Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Kuwait Times
Ex-Ukraine MP shot dead near Madrid
POZUELO DE ALACRON, Spain: A picture taken on May 21, 2025 shows the body of ex-Ukraine MP Andrey (Andriy) Portnov after he was shot dead in front of his children school in Pozuelo de Alarcon, near Madrid. — AFP POZUELO DE ALACRON, Spain: A US-sanctioned Ukrainian ex-MP and senior aide to the country's former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot dead near Madrid on Wednesday, a Spanish police source told AFP. Officers rushed to the upmarket town of Pozuelo de Alarcon where several people shot a man in the back and head as he prepared to climb into a vehicle, the source said, identifying the victim as Andriy Portnov. The shooters then fled from the scene towards a wooded area, the source added, saying the attack struck outside an American private school at around 9:15 am. Madrid emergency services found a dead man sprawled on the pavement near the school with at least three gunshot wounds, spokeswoman Encarna Fernandez told reporters at the scene. Spanish media reported the victim had just dropped off his children at the school before he was killed. AFP journalists saw forensics officers take away a disfigured corpse wearing a white T-shirt soaked with blood. Armed police had cordoned off the area and a forensics team was collecting fingerprints from a black Mercedes. Alvaro Fernandez Garcia, a 22-year-old student who lives nearby, told AFP the shooting was "shocking". "We usually see this on the news, or in other countries," he added. Sanctioned for corruption Portnov was a lawmaker in the 2000s and became deputy head of the presidential administration under Yanukovych, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, before fleeing to Russia in 2014 after cracking down on pro-EU protests in Ukraine. Portnov lived in Russia and Austria before returning to his home country following the election of President Volodymyr Zelensky. The United States imposed sanctions on him in 2021 for alleged corruption, saying he had used his influence in the judiciary and law enforcement to buy access in Ukrainian courts and undermine reform efforts. He was also known in Ukraine for insulting and threatening journalists, as well as filing numerous lawsuits against media professionals. "It's hard to overstate Portnov's role in intimidating Ukrainian journalists and undermining freedom of speech in Ukraine," Anna Babinets, founder of investigative news outlet wrote on Facebook. According to media reports, he used his connections within the spheres of power to escape Ukraine again in 2022, despite a ban on men liable for military service leaving the country during the Russian invasion. Ukrainian authorities had not commented on the incident, but a military intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Portnov had been shot dead. Ukraine has claimed or been linked with several assassinations in Russia and Moscow-occupied parts of Ukraine since the start of the invasion in 2022, targeting political or military officials or ideological supporters of the war. Killings have also been attributed to Russia. In February 2024, the corpse of a helicopter pilot who had deserted the Russian military was found riddled with bullets near the Spanish coastal resort of Benidorm. El Pais daily reported that Spanish intelligence sources had "no doubt that the long arm of the Kremlin was behind this unprecedented crime". Spain hosts more than 300,000 Ukrainians, most of them beneficiaries of temporary protection granted after they fled the Russian invasion, according to government data. — AFP
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First Post
22-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Former Ukrainian top leader shot dead by 'several men' outside school in Spain
Ukrainian ex-MP Viktor Yanukovych was a lawmaker in the 2000s and became deputy head of the presidential administration under Yanukovych, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, before fleeing to Russia in 2014 after cracking down on pro-EU protests in Ukraine read more A US-sanctioned Ukrainian ex-MP and senior aide to the country's former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot dead near Madrid on Wednesday, a Spanish police source told rushed to the upmarket town of Pozuelo de Alarcon where several people shot a man in the back and head as he prepared to climb into a vehicle, the source said, identifying the victim as Andriy Portnov. The shooters then fled from the scene towards a wooded area, the source added, saying the attack struck outside an American private school at around 9:15 am (0715 GMT). Madrid emergency services found a dead man sprawled on the pavement near the school with at least three gunshot wounds, spokeswoman Encarna Fernandez told reporters at the scene. Spanish media reported the victim had just dropped off his children at the school before he was killed. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD AFP journalists saw forensics officers take away a disfigured corpse wearing a white T-shirt soaked with blood. Armed police had cordoned off the area and a forensics team was collecting fingerprints from a black Mercedes. Alvaro Fernandez Garcia, a 22-year-old student who lives nearby, told AFP the shooting was 'shocking'. 'We usually see this on the news, or in other countries,' he added. Sanctioned for corruption Portnov was a lawmaker in the 2000s and became deputy head of the presidential administration under Yanukovych, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, before fleeing to Russia in 2014 after cracking down on pro-EU protests in Ukraine. Portnov lived in Russia and Austria before returning to his home country following the election of President Volodymyr Zelensky. The United States imposed sanctions on him in 2021 for alleged corruption, saying he had used his influence in the judiciary and law enforcement to buy access in Ukrainian courts and undermine reform efforts. He was also known in Ukraine for insulting and threatening journalists, as well as filing numerous lawsuits against media professionals. 'It's hard to overstate Portnov's role in intimidating Ukrainian journalists and undermining freedom of speech in Ukraine,' Anna Babinets, founder of investigative news outlet wrote on Facebook. According to media reports, he used his connections within the spheres of power to escape Ukraine again in 2022, despite a ban on men liable for military service leaving the country during the Russian invasion. Ukrainian authorities had not commented on the incident, but a military intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Portnov had been shot dead. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Ukraine has claimed or been linked with several assassinations in Russia and Moscow-occupied parts of Ukraine since the start of the invasion in 2022, targeting political or military officials or ideological supporters of the war. Killings have also been attributed to Russia. In February 2024, the corpse of a helicopter pilot who had deserted the Russian military was found riddled with bullets near the Spanish coastal resort of Benidorm. El Pais daily reported that Spanish intelligence sources had 'no doubt that the long arm of the Kremlin was behind this unprecedented crime'. Spain hosts more than 300,000 Ukrainians, most of them beneficiaries of temporary protection granted after they fled the Russian invasion, according to government data.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Yahoo
Journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna was tortured in Russian captivity
Investigators of the publication found that Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died in 2024, had been brutally tortured in Russian captivity: she had stab wounds on her body, was electrocuted, and the staff of the Russian colony where she was held hid her from inspections. Source: investigation by Details: journalists, together with Reporters Without Borders and colleagues from Suspilne and Hraty news agencies, found out that the Russians first captured Viktoriia and held her in torture chambers in the occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast and later transferred her to Taganrog. Prosecutors say that Roshchyna was held in prison without probable cause. Her cellmate said that the journalist was first held in Enerhodar (investigators confirmed this information from another source), then in Melitopol. These are unauthorised places of detention set up by Russians on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine (TOT). Her cellmate also said that Viktoriia had been tortured and that the journalist had had stab wounds on her body when she arrived after being held on the TOT. In addition to the stab wounds, Roshchyna had been electrocuted, and her cellmate said that the current could have been connected to her ears. Over time, the journalist began to lose weight rapidly, refusing to eat and constantly asking the jailers for help. When the detention centre staff noticed that Roshchyna was losing weight, the head of the colony came to her cell and talked to her. She kept insisting that she should be released, exchanged as a prisoner of war or deported. Her cellmate said that the Russian Human Rights Commissioner inspected their detention. Roshchyna was hidden from the inspection and transferred to another stock in a locked room. The journalist was last seen on 8 September 2024, when she was taken out of her cell in an unknown direction. Read Viktoria Roshchyna's writing on Ukrainska Pravda Background: Roshchyna left Ukraine for Poland on 25 July 2023 to travel to the occupied territory. She planned to reach the occupied part of Ukraine's east via Russia in three days. Roshchyna disappeared on 3 August 2023 in the TOT from where she was reporting. Russia admitted for the first time in May 2024 that they had detained Roshchyna. The Russian Ministry of Defence sent a letter of confirmation to her father, Volodymyr Roshchyn. On 10 October 2024, Petro Yatsenko, the head of the press service of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said during the 24/7 national joint newscast that Viktoriia Roshchyna had died in Russian custody. Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said that she was to be brought back to Ukraine in the near future. On 11 October, the Office of the Prosecutor General reported that the criminal proceedings initiated over Roshchyna's disappearance had been reclassified as a war crime combined with premeditated murder. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
