Media reports alleged death of Russian pilot who hijacked Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine: Possibly false news
Russian pilot Maksim Kuzminov (Photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Russian pilot Maksim Kuzminov, who allegedly hijacked the Mi-8 helicopter in Ukraine, was reportedly killed. His body was found in Spain, according to Il Corrispondente.
According to the material, Kuzminov was allegedly killed by 12 shots while he was in the municipality of Villahoyosa on Tuesday, February 13.
Then, the Russian pilot was "run over by a car," journalists add.
The pilot, who switched sides to Ukraine, allegedly had 100,000 euros found on him.
Spanish law enforcement and other official sources have not yet confirmed Kuzminov's death.
Updated 17:29
The information about "Kuzminov's death" was first published by the Eureka News project on X, citing "unofficial information" from the National Guard. They suggested that "the operation could have been organized by Ukrainian special services."
The media only has an account on Twitter and a Telegram channel. Despite the project having 24,000 subscribers, the post received only four likes.
Such rumors are also actively spread by Russian propaganda media, including TASS. They refer to Spanish media outlets, including ABC and Levante-EMV, which on February 14 published information about the "death of a 33-year-old Ukrainian" in Spain.
The age of the deceased does not match Kuzminov's age. The Russian pilot is currently 28 years old.
Operation Sinytsia
On August 23, 2023, information appeared on the network that a Russian Mi-8 helicopter had landed on Ukrainian territory.
Later, it became known that Ukrainian intelligence conducted a unique special operation, during which they recruited Russian pilot Maksim Kuzminov.
He flew the Mi-8 helicopter from the Kursk region to the Kharkiv region. Two crew members who were in the helicopter with Kuzminov were eliminated.
The hijacked helicopter was handed over to Ukrainian defenders.
