Former Ukrainian presidential aide killed in Madrid – reports
An unidentified gunman or gunmen shot and killed former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov outside a school in a wealthy suburb of Madrid, Reuters reported, quoting a source close to the police investigation.
Police received a call about the shooting of a Ukrainian citizen at 9.15 a.m. (0715 GMT) local time outside the elite American School of Madrid, located in Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid police told Reuters, without identifying the victim.
Portnov was a senior aide to Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovich who was ousted in the 2014 Euromaidan revolution.
Reuters noted that since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there have been several crimes involving high-profile Russian and Ukrainians in Spain, which has significant expatriate populations from both countries.
In November and December 2022, six letter bombs were sent to high profile targets around Spain, including to prime minister Pedro Sánchez, the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, government offices, a European Union satellite company and the U.S. Embassy. A 76-year-old retired Spanish civil servant whose social media searches suggested sympathy for Russia was jailed for the offences.
In April 2022, a Russian businessman tied to Russia’s gas company Novatek was found dead in an apparent suicide together with his wife and daughter who had suffered stab wounds.
In February 2024, a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with his helicopter was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the parking garage of his apartment block near Alicante.
Key events
Spanish daily El Mundo said, quoting its sources in Madrid police, that investigators looking into the reported killing of Andrii Portnov are focusing on two potential motives: settling of scores after a dispute between criminal gangs, or a political murder.
Russian ship detected in ‘suspicious’ activity near Poland-Sweden cable, Polish PM says
Elsewhere, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk just said the Polish military was forced to intervene on the Baltic Sea after a Russian ship from the sanctioned “shadow fleet” performed what he described as “suspicious manoeuvres” near the power cable connecting Poland with Sweden.
Poland’s survey ship ORP Herweliusz is on its way to the place of the incident to investigate further, he said.
The Polish grid operator PSE confirmed the cable was still operational.
For more background on Portnov, here is his profile as drafted by the US Treasury in 2021, when he was sanctioned on the International Anti-Corruption Day, no less.
Andriy Portnov (Portnov), the former Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration under former President Yanukovych, has cultivated extensive connections to Ukraine’s judicial and law enforcement apparatus through bribery.
Widely known as a court fixer, Portnov was credibly accused of using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine’s courts and undermining reform efforts.
As of 2019, Portnov took steps to control the Ukrainian judiciary, influence associated legislation, sought to place loyal officials in senior judiciary positions, and purchase court decisions.
In mid-2019, Portnov colluded with a high ranking Ukrainian government official to shape the country’s higher legal institutions to their advantage and influence Ukraine’s Constitutional Court. Additionally, Portnov has been involved in an attempt to influence the Ukrainian Prosecutor General.
Portnov is designated pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being a foreign person who is a current or former government official, or a person acting for or on behalf of such an official, who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery.
Additionally, OFAC designated the Andriy Portnov Fund pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being owned or controlled by Portnov.
Jakub Krupa
Hello to all readers joining us on Europe Live from our Ukraine blog as we follow the latest from Spain after an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych has been shot dead outside a school in Madrid.
Stay with us for updates on this and other stories from across Europe.
AP notes that the man shot in Madrid, Andriy Portnov, was widely viewed as a pro-Russia political figure and was involved in drafting legislation aimed at persecuting participants of the 2014 revolution in Ukraine.
He was a former Ukrainian politician closely tied to ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, having served as deputy head of the presidential office from 2010 to 2014.
AP noted that after fleeing Ukraine in 2014, Portnov reportedly lived in Russia in 2015 before relocating to Austria. It wasn’t immediately clear when he moved to Spain.
In 2018, Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, opened an investigation against him on suspicion of state treason, alleging his involvement in Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. The criminal case was closed in 2019.
First pictures from Madrid after ex-Yanukovych aide was shot dead
Spanish newspaper El País is reporting that the police believe there were “two or three” attackers, with “at least three” gunshot wounds discovered on the body of the dead man.
The newspaper quotes sources close to the investigation claiming that the man was driving a car at the time of the attack.
A member of the staff at the elite American School of Madrid told the newspaper that she didn’t know if there was any link between the victim and the school.
Former Ukrainian presidential aide killed in Madrid – reports
An unidentified gunman or gunmen shot and killed former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov outside a school in a wealthy suburb of Madrid, Reuters reported, quoting a source close to the police investigation.
Police received a call about the shooting of a Ukrainian citizen at 9.15 a.m. (0715 GMT) local time outside the elite American School of Madrid, located in Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid police told Reuters, without identifying the victim.
Portnov was a senior aide to Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovich who was ousted in the 2014 Euromaidan revolution.
Reuters noted that since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there have been several crimes involving high-profile Russian and Ukrainians in Spain, which has significant expatriate populations from both countries.
In November and December 2022, six letter bombs were sent to high profile targets around Spain, including to prime minister Pedro Sánchez, the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, government offices, a European Union satellite company and the U.S. Embassy. A 76-year-old retired Spanish civil servant whose social media searches suggested sympathy for Russia was jailed for the offences.
In April 2022, a Russian businessman tied to Russia’s gas company Novatek was found dead in an apparent suicide together with his wife and daughter who had suffered stab wounds.
In February 2024, a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with his helicopter was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the parking garage of his apartment block near Alicante.
French prosecutors ask for 10-year-term for alleged Kardashian theft ringleader
Prosecutors urged a French court to hand a 10-year prison sentence to the main suspect in the 2016 robbery of US celebrity Kim Kardashian in a Paris hotel after a trial that saw the influencer testify, AFP reported.
“I know, just as you do, that among the 10 accused, eight proclaim their innocence,” prosecutor Anne-Dominique Merville told the court on Wednesday.
“Yet my firm conviction is that they are all guilty.”
“They were masked, wearing gloves, they were going to sequester her and tie her up. They have no empathy for Kim Kardashian, for the receptionist,” she said.
AFP said she requested that the alleged mastermind behind the robbery – Aomar Ait Khedache – be sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Ultranationalist Simion wants to challenge result of Romanian vote
Jon Henley
Speaking of elections and the fallout from the European Super Sunday…
The defeated ultranationalist candidate in Romania’s presidential election rerun has said he will ask the country’s top court to annul the vote on the same grounds – foreign interference – that led to the original ballot being cancelled last year.
George Simion, who was defeated in Sunday’s runoff by the liberal mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, said on Tuesday he would ask the constitutional court to void the ballot “for the same reasons they annulled the elections” last year.
The election, which Dan won by a margin of 53.6% to 46.4%, was the second time the vote had been held. The first, last November, was cancelled by the court after the first round amid allegations of campaign financing violations and a “massive” Russian interference campaign.
Simion has repeatedly alleged electoral fraud without providing evidence. His belated decision to contest the election’s outcome, while unlikely to succeed, will prolong the political uncertainty in Romania, which is under a caretaker government.
The ultranationalist, whose supporters carried out a parallel count at some polling stations, said votes were “correctly counted” but “international observers” had seen “foreign interference” and “social media and algorithms have been manipulated”.
He claimed there was “irrefutable evidence” of meddling by France, Moldova and others in “an orchestrated effort to manipulate institutions, direct media narratives and impose a result that does not reflect the sovereign will of the Romanian people”.
Poland rolls over law suspending asylum for migrants crossing from Belarus
Elsewhere, the Polish parliament has rolled over its controversial law temporarily suspending the right to claim asylum at the country’s eastern border with Belarus amid concerns about illegal migration flows being incentivised by Russia.
The restriction was due to expire on 26 May, and will now be rolled over for another 60 days.
Today’s decision was taken with cross-party support of 366 votes in favour, and just 17 opposed, mostly rebels from within the governing coalition.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that he recognised the importance of offering international protection, but argued it was being deliberately abused by Russia, Belarus, and people smugglers, forming a “form of aggression” on Poland.
The law includes some very limited humanitarian exceptions.
Poland’s response to migration flows continues to be one of the key topics dominating the presidential campaign, with the run-off between the top two candidates in the first round last weekend – centrist Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and conservative Karol Nawrocki – scheduled for 1 June.
Morning opening: Just stop it
Jakub Krupa
Finance ministers of the some of the world’s largest economies – the G7 – are meeting in Banff, Alberta in Canada to discuss their ideas on Ukraine and concerns about disruptions resulting from Donald Trump’s unorthodox trade policy.
Before the meeting, German finance minister Lars Klingbeil warned that trade disputes with the US should be resolved as soon as possible, as he stressed they were a burden on the economy and job security.
Instead of this infighting, G7 should make it clear that it “will continue to stand firmly by Ukraine’s side” and oppose “the terrible destruction caused by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war,” Klingbeil said.
Ukraine will be represented there, with the country’s finance minister Sergii Marchenko in attendance.
These comments come as Europe scramble to keep pressure on Russia with the latest round of sanctions.
Even the Vatican is getting involved with Pope Leo XVI confirming to Giorgia Meloni his willingness to host the next round of negotiations to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
I will bring you all key updates from across Europe throughout the day.
It’s Wednesday, 21 May 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
