The death of a Russian pilot who fled to Ukraine remained shrouded in mystery on Tuesday as Spanish authorities refused to confirm that a bullet-riddled body found in a Spanish resort was indeed his, AFP reported.

Opponent of the conflict in Ukraine, Maksym Kuzminov, made headlines last August when he escaped in a Russian army Mi-8 helicopter and crossed territory controlled by Ukraine.

While flying from the base in the Kursk region, he claimed in a video released by the Ukrainian Military Intelligence (UMI) in September that he was flying at “extremely low altitude, in radio silence mode” so as not to be detected.

When asked by AFP, a GUR spokesman confirmed on Tuesday that the pilot had died, but declined to provide details on the place, date or circumstances of his death.

For their part, several Spanish media reported on Monday, citing sources close to the investigation, that the bullet-riddled body of a Russian pilot was found on February 13 in the spa resort of Villajoyosa (southeast), near Alicante.

This information has not been officially confirmed by the Spanish authorities.

Russia has repeatedly denied allegations of assassinations or assassinations of Kremlin opponents or defectors both inside and outside its borders.

“Fake Face”

The Spanish Civil Guard in charge of the investigation told AFP only that “the identity used by this person (killed) may not be true and it may be another person.”

She added that his identity was being verified, which could take some time, according to the Home Office.

Asked to comment on the case after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Spanish government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría asked the media to “allow the Civil Guard to do its job so that the investigation can progress.”

According to a source in the court, the man who was shot several times while leaving the parking lot of the building had documents that matched the documents of the 33-year-old Ukrainian.

According to this source, his murder was initially believed to be a simple “settlement” in an area with a large Russian community.

Then the authorities found his burned car in a nearby commune, where his killers had fled, the media reported.

Moscow welcomes the death of the “traitor”

In August, Maksym Kuzminov said he had been secretly organizing his escape from Ukrainian services for months, and called on other Russian servicemen to do the same.

According to the GUR, two comrades who accompanied him and did not know about his plan were killed by Ukrainian security forces when they tried to escape after reaching Ukraine. Pro-Kremlin Russian media accused the pilot of shooting down the two men himself.

On Tuesday, Moscow rejoiced at the news of his death.

“This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse from the moment he planned his vile and terrible crime,” the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin was quoted as saying by the official TASS news agency.

However, he neither confirmed nor denied Russia’s involvement in the death.

In an October report, Russian state television reported that special services had been tasked with finding and punishing the pilot.

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