Shot dead in Spain

Moscow about murdered pilot: “Moral corpse”

Maxim Kuzminov had deserted in the summer of 2023.(Bild: EPA)

After Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov spectacularly defected to Ukraine and stole a combat helicopter in the process, the 33-year-old was found shot dead in Spain last week. The head of the Russian foreign intelligence service SWR has now commented on the death of the young Russian: The latter had already become a "moral corpse" when he planned the "crime against his homeland".

For Ukraine, which used the case of the defector for propaganda purposes, Kuzminov was a hero. For SWR director Sergei Narishkin, on the other hand, he is a criminal. "This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse the moment he planned his dirty and terrible crime," said Narishkin, according to the state news agency RIA Novosti. He did not want to say more: "In Russia it is often said: either you talk well about the dead, or you don't talk at all." Kuzminov's death was "not an issue" on the Kremlin's agenda.

Escape car found burnt out
Kuzminov's mortal remains were discovered on the ramp of a garage in the coastal town of La Vila Joiosa near Alicante. His body was riddled with six gunshots. The identity of the man who was shot was confirmed by his fingerprints - he was only carrying papers with a false identity. According to the Spanish newspaper "El Pais", his attackers are said to have fled in a car. The suspected getaway vehicle was eventually found burnt out in the neighboring town of El Campello. 

Maxim Kuzminov deserted in the summer of 2023.(Bild: EPA)

Pilot "regretted" war against Ukraine
After he defected, Kuzminov explained that he had been against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "I regret what happened, the murders, the tears, the blood," he was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian secret service in a documentary. He expressed his conviction that there were "neither fascists nor Nazis" in Ukraine, as claimed by the Kremlin.

Russia issued an order to liquidate the deserter
On August 9, he finally deserted while on a mission near the Russian-Ukrainian border. "I landed and they welcomed me (to Ukraine)," he said. The government in Kiev announced at the time that the pilot had been injured after landing, but was quickly given medical treatment. Russian state television reported that the order had been given to liquidate the pilot.