Shot with Makarov and run over by car: NYT gives details of Mi-8 pilot's murder
Maxim Kuzminov, Russian Mi-8 pilot (photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
In February of this year, Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov who flew an Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine as part of a special operation by the DIU was killed in Spain. He was shot with a Makarov gun and then run over several times by a car, reports the New York Times.
According to the NYT, there were two killers of Kuzminov. At the crime scene, they left shell casings from 9mm Makarov gun cartridges. According to the NYT, these shell casings are important evidence, as such ammunition is commonly used in the countries of the "former communist bloc."
The car used by the killers to run over Kuzminov's body several times was found a few kilometers from the scene. The car was burned using special means.
It took a week for experts to identify the make and model of the car and determine that it had been stolen two days before the murder in the city of Murcia, which is about an hour's drive from the crime scene.
"It was a clear message. I'm going to find you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to run you over and humiliate you," a senior Spanish police official overseeing the murder investigation told the NYT.
In addition, as the NYT found out, the Russian left Ukraine in October 2023. In Spain, he settled in the city of La Villajoyosa on the Mediterranean coast. The killers, according to the NYT, found Kuzminov after he invited his ex-girlfriend to his home in Spain.
"This was a serious mistake," said one Ukrainian official who also spoke to the NYT.
Special operation "Titmouse"
On August 23, 2023, it was reported that a Russian Mi-8 helicopter had landed in Ukraine.
Later, it became known that Ukrainian intelligence had conducted a unique special operation in which it recruited a Russian pilot, Maxim Kuzminov. He flew a Mi-8 helicopter from the Kursk region to the Kharkiv region. Two crew members who were in the helicopter with Kuzminov were killed.
The stolen helicopter was handed over to Ukrainian defenders.
Murder of the Mi-8 pilot
On February 19, the Spanish media began to report that the body of Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov was found in Alicante on February 13. Later, the DIU confirmed that the deceased was indeed Kuzminov.
Spanish media wrote that the pilot was killed by "professionals". They were watching him with the help of surveillance cameras.
