‘A GRAVE MISTAKE’

Russian Defector’s Booty Call May Have Alerted Killers to His Location: Report

Maksim Kuzminov’s body was found in the Spanish town of Villajoyosa last month after he reportedly reached out to an old girlfriend.

A month after a former Russian military pilot was found dead following his dramatic defection to Ukraine, no direct evidence of Kremlin involvement has emerged. But the “clear message” of Maksim Kuzminov’s ignoble death—shot six times and run over in a parking garage—has reignited fears that assassins contracted by Moscow continue to operate on European soil, according to a report in The New York Times. After Kuzminov flew his Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine in August, he assumed a false identity and went to Spain, where authorities were reportedly unaware of his presence until his body was found in the southern resort town of Villajoyosa on Feb. 13. It is unknown how his two killers, who have not been identified, tracked him down. But Kuzminov lived “an indiscreet life” in Spain, a senior official in Spain’s Civil Guard told the Times, hanging out in bars popular with Russians and Ukrainians and driving around in a flashy Mercedes. Two senior Ukrainian officials told the Times that around this time Kuzminov also reached out to an old flame who still lived in Russia, inviting her to visit him. “This was a grave mistake,” one of the officials said.