The wrong choice cost the Russian defector pilot dearly.

When Kuzminov decided to move from Ukraine to Spain to build a new life, he never imagined that it could cost him his life in a foreign land.

Maksim Kuzminov, a captain in Russia's 319th Independent Helicopter Regiment, was the pilot who defected to Ukraine in August 2023 in a Mi-8 military helicopter and received a reward of 18.4 million hryvnia, equivalent to $500,000.

At a subsequent press conference in Kyiv, with two Ukrainian servicemen in uniform standing beside him, Kuzminov said he wanted to strike a blow against the Russian campaign. "I don't want to be complicit with them," he declared.

But for Russia, Kuzminov's defection was seen as betrayal. Russian state television showed an intelligence officer saying, "I don't think he'll live long enough to stand trial."

Kuzminov could have chosen to stay in Ukraine. Military intelligence officers who coordinated his defection said Kuzminov initially agreed to join the Russian Freedom Corps, a Russian volunteer group fighting for Ukraine.

Maksim Kuzminov (right) at a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, September 2023. Photo: gur.gov.ua

However, two months later, he changed his mind, saying he wanted to move to Spain to start a new life, despite warnings from Ukrainian officials that they could not protect him if he went to Western Europe.

Kuzminov ignored the advice of Ukrainian intelligence officers. He told them that Spain was a democratic and law-abiding country where he would surely be protected. "That was his choice," a Ukrainian officer said.

"He was so naive," a source in Kyiv said. "He wanted a comfortable life and believed that with that much money, Europe would be more attractive than Ukraine."

In October 2023, officials in Kyiv issued Kuzminov a Ukrainian passport with the number GG843153 and a new identity as Igor Shevchenko, 33 years old. Under this new identity, Kuzminov moved to the town of Villajoyosa, Costa Blanca, in southeastern Spain. Spanish media reported that Kuzminov did not take any further protective measures upon moving to the country.

Villajoyosa overlooks the Mediterranean Sea, with brightly colored houses scattered along the coastline and is famous for its fine chocolate. This picturesque town has a population of 36,000, including 800 Russians and 1,200 Ukrainians.

Kuzminov lives in a neighborhood called La Cala, two blocks from the beach and the police station. The only shared amenity there is a swimming pool. Neighbors say he lives on the ninth floor, the top floor of a typical apartment building.

Kuzminov was very private. He learned a little Spanish, ate breakfast regularly at the café near his home, and mostly avoided his fellow Russians. Life might have been lonely, but at least he was alive.

Kuzminov probably felt safe in his secluded life. Ruben, the apartment building manager, said many residents in the building were foreigners. Ruben had interacted with Kuzminov once in December 2023, when he showed him where to throw away the trash. It appears Kuzminov was renovating his apartment.

But everything ended on February 13th, when the 28-year-old was shot six times in the underground parking garage of his apartment building.

No one in the apartment building heard gunshots that night. An elderly Spanish resident who discovered the body on the basement walkway believes Kuzminov was run over by the assassins' vehicle after the shooting.

"It was only when the paramedics cut through his clothes that we saw the bullet holes," Ruben said. The basement surveillance cameras were still working, but they didn't capture any useful data.

The two suspects are believed to have fled in a white Hyundai SUV. The vehicle was later found about 18 kilometers south of the scene, but it had been burned.

Vu Hoang (According to Guardian, AFP, Reuters )

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