Former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov was shot dead near a school in an affluent neighborhood of Madrid.
Police received a call around 09:15 in the morning about a Ukrainian national shot in front of the American School of Madrid, located in Pozuelo de Alarcón, authorities told Reuters without initially identifying the victim.
Portnov was a senior advisor to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in 2014.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, several crimes involving high-profile Russians and Ukrainians have occurred in Spain, a country with large immigrant communities from both nations.
In November and December 2022, six postal bombs were sent to key targets across Spain, including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, government offices, an EU satellite company, and the U.S. Embassy. A 76-year-old former Spanish civil worker, who showed sympathy for Russia on social media, was imprisoned for these acts.
In April 2022, a Russian businessman linked to the Russian gas company Novatek was found dead in an apparent suicide along with his wife and daughter, who had stab wounds.
