Latest news with #ex-Ukrainian
United News of India
21-05-2025
- United News of India
Ukrainian man shot dead outside of Madrid American school
Madrid, May 21 (UNI) Spanish National Police have launched an investigation into the fatal shooting of a 52-year-old Ukrainian man outside the American School of Madrid in the commuter town of Pozuelo de Alarcon on Wednesday morning. The incident occurred around 09:15 local time (08:15 GMT). Emergency services pronounced the victim dead at the scene after he sustained four gunshot wounds to the chest and a fatal shot to the head -- injuries described as "incompatible with life." The school was immediately placed under lockdown as a precaution. No further injuries have been reported. Parents told local media that the victim was the father of a student at the school. Although the investigation is ongoing, early police reports suggested the attacker was waiting on a motorcycle for the victim, whom Spanish radio station Cadena Ser has identified as Andriy Portnov, a former advisor to ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. UNI XINHUA GNK
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Aide to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych shot dead at school in Spain
May 21 (UPI) -- An ex-Ukrainian politician and top aide to former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was shot dead Wednesday in Spain outside an elite international school. Andriy Portnov, a former adviser to Ukraine's former pro-Kremlin leader, was shot and killed at the American School of Madrid -- a private institution -- in a wealthy suburb of Spain's capital city. Authorities received a call around 9:15 a.m. local time and sped to the scene in the Pozuelo de Alarcon neighborhood, according to Spain's interior ministry. Portnov, 52, was reportedly dropping off his kids at school and walking to his black Mercedes when he was shot "several times" with about four or five bullets to the head and body, witnesses said. Meanwhile, no other injuries were reported. Spanish police said witnesses also reported more than one gunman who then fled on foot to a wooded area nearby. Pornov had been a senior adviser to Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's president from 2010-2014 and a firm ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Pornov had been a member of parliament in the Batkivshchyna governing party of then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a pro-EU ally, before Pornov switched political parties to join the Yanukovych faction after his 2010 presidential election win against Tymoshenko -- Ukraine's first woman prime minister. Yanukovych, now 74, infamously withdrew Ukraine from an association agreement with the European Union, which sparked bloody and deadly protests from 2013 until he was ousted in 2014 and then fled during anti-government protests that erupted over his last-minute rejection of the EU proposal to foster closer European ties away from Russia. Portnov was later sanctioned by multiple nations, including the EU, Canada and the United States for his role in Yanukovych's administration. In 2021, he was placed on America's sanction list for allegedly "using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine's courts and undermining reform efforts." Portnov was later removed from the EU blacklist -- for those who allegedly misappropriate state funds or commit human right violations -- as he challenged the sanctions placed upon him. But it was not immediately clear why or when Portnov moved to Spain. He reportedly left Ukraine in 2014 and lived in Russia by 2015 before relocating to neighboring Austria. Ukraine's security service opened an investigation on him in 2018 on suspicions of treason and alleged involvement in Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea but ended it in 2019. However, a motive behind Wednesday's deadly shooting is not yet known.
UPI
21-05-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Aide to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych shot dead at school in Spain
May 21 (UPI) -- An ex-Ukrainian politician and top aide to former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was shot dead Wednesday in Spain outside an elite international school. Andriy Portnov, a former adviser to Ukraine's former pro-Kremlin leader, was shot and killed at the American School of Madrid -- a private institution -- in a wealthy suburb of Spain's capital city. Authorities received a call around 9:15 a.m. local time and sped to the scene in the Pozuelo de Alarcon neighborhood, according to Spain's interior ministry. Portnov, 52, was reportedly dropping off his kids at school and walking to his black Mercedes when he was shot "several times" with about four or five bullets to the head and body, witnesses said. Meanwhile, no other injuries were reported. Spanish police said witnesses also reported more than one gunman who then fled on foot to a wooded area nearby. Pornov had been a senior adviser to Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's president from 2010-2014 and a firm ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Pornov had been a member of parliament in the Batkivshchyna governing party of then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a pro-EU ally, before Pornov switched political parties to join the Yanukovych faction after his 2010 presidential election win against Tymoshenko -- Ukraine's first woman prime minister. Yanukovych, now 74, infamously withdrew Ukraine from an association agreement with the European Union, which sparked bloody and deadly protests from 2013 until he was ousted in 2014 and then fled during anti-government protests that erupted over his last-minute rejection of the EU proposal to foster closer European ties away from Russia. Portnov was later sanctioned by multiple nations, including the EU, Canada and the United States for his role in Yanukovych's administration. In 2021, he was placed on America's sanction list for allegedly "using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine's courts and undermining reform efforts." Portnov was later removed from the EU blacklist -- for those who allegedly misappropriate state funds or commit human right violations -- as he challenged the sanctions placed upon him. But it was not immediately clear why or when Portnov moved to Spain. He reportedly left Ukraine in 2014 and lived in Russia by 2015 before relocating to neighboring Austria. Ukraine's security service opened an investigation on him in 2018 on suspicions of treason and alleged involvement in Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea but ended it in 2019. However, a motive behind Wednesday's deadly shooting is not yet known.
The Journal
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Adviser to ex-Ukrainian president shot dead outside school in Madrid
A FORMER ADVISER to ex-Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych has been shot dead outside the American School of Madrid in what appears to be a targeted attack, Spanish authorities have confirmed. The victim, 52-year-old Andrii Portnov, was ambushed by gunmen around 9.15am local time (8:15am Irish time) this morning, according to Spain's Interior Ministry. According to El País , Portnov was approaching his Mercedes car when he was surprised and shot multiple times by the attackers. He was found lying at the entrance to the school, and emergency services declared him dead at the scene. Madrid emergency services later confirmed via social media that a man had been shot dead in the area, though they did not name the victim. #SUMMA112 confirma el fallecimiento de un varón con heridas por arma de fuego en #PozueloDeAlarcón . Colabora @SEAPAPozuelo y #PolicíaLocal . @policia se encarga de la investigación. — 112 Comunidad de Madrid (@112cmadrid) May 21, 2025 Local media reported that Portnov had just dropped his children off at school when he was attacked. Witnesses said he was shot several times in the head and body by more than one gunman. The assailants then fled on foot into nearby woods. Advertisement Police cordoned off the area, with the crime scene located in a car park about 150 metres from the school gates. No arrests have been made so far, and a murder investigation is underway. The motive for the killing remains unclear. Police remain at the scene outside a school in Madrid. PA PA Portnov was a prominent political figure during Yanukovych's presidency, serving as deputy head of the presidential office from 2010 to 2014. He was widely seen as pro-Russian, and played a central role in drafting legislation aimed at suppressing the 2014 pro-European revolution in Ukraine. Following the fall of Yanukovych's government, Portnov fled Ukraine in 2014, reportedly living in Russia before relocating to Austria. It is not clear when he moved to Spain. In 2018, Ukraine's Security Service (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. In 2021, the United States imposed personal sanctions on Mr Portnov, designating him as someone 'responsible for or complicit in, or (who) has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery'. Additional reporting by Andrew Walsh
Local Spain
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Spain
Pro-Russia ex-Ukraine MP shot dead in Spain
War in Ukraine A US-sanctioned ex-Ukrainian 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. Police rushed to the upmarket town of Pozuelo de Alarcón where "several people" shot a male "in the back and head" as he "prepared to climb into a vehicle", the source said, confirming the victim was Andriy Portnov. The shooters "later fled from the scene towards a wooded area", the source added, saying the incident had occurred outside an American private school. Portnov was a lawmaker in the 2000s and became deputy head of the presidential administration under Yanukovych, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who fled to Russia in 2014 after cracking down on pro-EU protests in Ukraine. Portnov quit Ukraine after Yanukovych's fall, living in Russia and Austria before returning to his home country after the election of current 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. 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.
