DISINFO: Russian defector killed in Spain may have been eliminated by Ukrainian services
SUMMARY
According to Spanish media, the traitor Maxim Kuzminov was shot in his own garage, and some outlets point out, this defector may have been a victim of the Ukrainian security services – he may have been killed to erase their traces.
RESPONSE
The claim is false. No Spanish outlet has pointed to any Ukrainian involvement in the death of Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who defected to Ukraine with his helicopter in August 2023 and was shot in his apartment in the Spanish coastal town of Villajoyosa on 13 February 2024. Spanish intelligence services have unequivocally blamed Russian secret services for this murder and pointed to the likely use of Chechen gunmen as contract killers. The allegation is an attempt to muddy the waters to divert attention away from Russia’s potential responsibility for this killing.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Kyiv prepared terror attacks against Macron during his visit, that Ukrainian special services instigated the events at the Makhachkala airport in Dagestan, that foreign secret services fabricated Russian involvement in Vrbětice explosion, or that Ukraine's terrorist attack on the Kakhovka dam followed script of American and British intelligence services.