Spanish Police Suspect Bullet-Riddled Body May Be Russian Who Defected With Army Helicopter

Police said Tuesday they suspect the bullet-riddled body of a man found in Spain is that of a Russian defector who escaped across the front line and into Ukraine last year with an army helicopter.

The body was found Feb. 13 in La Cala, near the eastern port city of Alicante, according to Civil Guard police. The man had been shot half a dozen times and was run over by the car, according to the Spanish state news agency Efe.

Spain’s Civil Guard said they found documents on the body that identified the man as a 33-year-old Ukrainian. But police now believe it could be Maksim Kuzminov, who defected last year by flying into Ukraine in a Mi-8 army helicopter with the help of Ukrainian intelligence.

Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukrainian military intelligence, confirmed to local media that the former Russian pilot had died in Spain, but didn’t provide details. It is not clear how or why Kuzminov would have traveled to Spain.

Read more: AP