Ex-Ukrainian politician shot dead by ‘motorbike-riding assassin’ while dropping children at school in Madrid
A Ukrainian former politician and lawyer has been shot dead by a ‘motorbike-riding assassin’ while dropping off his children at a school in Madrid.
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Andriy Portnov, 51, a senior aide to Ukraine's former president, has been shot dead in Madrid while reportedly dropping off his children to school.
It is unknown who carried out the assassination. Portnov was reportedly shot five times, suffering at least three wounds to his head and back, Spanish paper El Pais reports.
Portnov was shot while driving his Mercedes outside the gates of an American school in the affluent Pozuelo area of the Spanish capital on Wednesday morning.
Police received reports of the shooting at 9:15am local time and rushed to the scene, without knowing who the victim was.
Portnov was a senior aide to Ukraine's former president Viktor Yanukovych who was ousted in 2014.
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Yanukovych was a staunch pro-Russian leader, and has been living in the country in exile since being ousted in the Revolution of Dignity, following months of protests.
When Yanukovych was ousted, Portnov also immediately left Ukraine, moving to Russia and then Vienna and working as a lawyer.
Portnov was involved in the 'Dictatorship laws' imposed on Ukrainians during the Maidan Uprising, a period of civil unrest sparked by Yakunovich's pro-Russian policies, which came at the expense of Ukraine's relationship with the EU.
He was sanctioned by the EU in 2014 for his actions within the government, and taken off the sanctions list in 2015.
He was then sanctioned by the US in 2021, for "using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine’s courts and undermining reform efforts”, the US embassy in Kyiv said.
Portnov has been accused of numerous crimes, and faced several court cases, most of which he won in court.
The charges against him included involvement in the mass killing of activists during the 2014 protests in Ukraine, high treason and involvement in the Russian annexation of Crimea.