Spanish Court Halts Investigation into Murder of Defector Pilot Amidst Uncertain Suspects

A Spanish court has announced the indefinite suspension of the investigation into the murder of a Russian military pilot who defected to Ukraine, as reported by Spain’s judicial authority on Wednesday.

The inquiry was paused due to a lack of suspects, with authorities indicating that police have failed to identify those responsible for the crime or those who orchestrated it.

Maxim Kuzminov, 28, escaped from Russia’s Kursk region on August 9, 2023, piloting an Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine after growing disillusioned with his country’s full-scale invasion.

Subsequently, he relocated to Spain, where he purchased an apartment in Villajoyosa, a coastal town near Alicante.

On February 13, 2024, he was fatally shot in a residential parking garage.

A source connected to the Spanish investigation, as mentioned in 60 Minutes, suggested that the murder may involve a former KGB agent and a relative who is a colonel in the Russian police.

High-ranking Spanish police officials informed The New York Times that the execution displayed similarities to previous Russian attacks overseas, including the 2019 assassination of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin by FSB agent Vadim Krasikov, and the 2018 poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, carried out by operatives from Russia’s military intelligence.

Russia has consistently denied allegations of assassinations or attempts on the lives of Kremlin critics or defectors, both at home and abroad.