Former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov, a top adviser to ousted President Viktor Yanukovych (thanks, CIA!), was shot dead this morning outside the American School of Madrid shortly after student drop-off.
Spanish media reports that 2-3 suspects are being hunted. Portnov faced treason charges in Ukraine and was accused of collaborating with Russia ... Former president Yanukovych was overthrown in 2014.
According to the US Treasury Department, Portnov was "credibly accused of using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine's courts and undermining reform effort." He was sanctioned by the US for corruption and bribery in 2021 under the Magnitsky Act. According to CNN, the Magnitsky Act "blocks entry into the US and freezes the assets of certain Russian and pro-Russian government officials and businessmen accused of human rights violations." Portnov also had his assets frozen by Canada in 2014.
He was never sanctioned by Ukraine, though the country did open an investigation into his ties to the Russian annexation of Ukraine -- a case which was later closed.
Yanukovych was driven from office by mass demonstrations in Ukraine in 2014 after he turned his back on the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.
Yanukovych then fled Ukraine for Russia, along with Portnov and other high-level former officials in the wake of the 2014 pro-democracy, pro-European Maidan protests. Portnov later returned to Ukraine in 2019.
Portnov would later move to Spain.
What's more,
In 2015, CNN reported on two high-profile shooting deaths in the Ukrainian capital - one of a former member of parliament with ties to Yanukovych, the other of a Ukrainian journalist known for his pro-Russian views.
At the time, those killings renewed speculation about a conspiracy to kill people close to Yanukovych, after three former members of parliament from his political party died by suspected suicide, found dead in their homes.
So this is nothing new in the world of Ukraine-Russia politics.
The suspects are still on the loose after fleeing into a wooded area outside of the school in the Madrid suburb of Pozuelo de Alaracon.
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