Ex-Ukrainian presidential aide shot dead outside Madrid-area school

A 52-year-old man identified by Spanish media as Andriy Portnov, a former adviser to ousted pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, was shot dead on Wednesday outside the American School in Pozuelo de Alarcón, a suburb west of Madrid.

Police officers work at the scene outside the American School of Madrid in Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid, Spain, 21 May 2025, after a Ukrainian man, 52, was shot dead after dropping off his children at the school.

EPA/BORJA SANCHEZ-TRILLO

Emergency services said the victim was found with five gunshot wounds – four to the chest and one to the head – and died at the scene shortly after 8 a.m. local time.

Cadena SER radio, citing police sources, named the victim as Portnov, who was placed under EU sanctions in 2014 for allegedly misappropriating Ukrainian state funds and cracking down on the Euromaidan protests.

Ukrainian investigators have since probed him for suspected treason and links to Russia.

A key mastermind of Ukraine’s pro-Russian part of the deep state - the one who controlled judges, corrupted courts, and protected the system’s worst - was assassinated today

The evil tried to break Ukraine from within. There is justice in the world

Andriy Portnov was killed
1/ pic.twitter.com/HhjDxr8PjZ

— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) May 21, 2025

Witness accounts gathered by police indicate a lone assailant on a motorcycle waited outside the school gate before shooting the victim as he dropped off his children, then sped away.

Officers from the homicide and forensic units are reviewing CCTV footage and questioning potential witnesses; no arrests have been announced.

Portnov served as a legal and political adviser during Yanukovych’s 2010-2014 presidency, and was among architects of tough anti-protest laws passed weeks before the former leader fled Kyiv during the 2014 uprising.

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Source: PAP, RMF24, Reuters