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Andriy Portnov was a senior aide to Ukraine’s former president Viktor F. Yanukovych, who was ousted in a 2014 uprising over his alignment with Moscow.
May 21, 2025, 12:23 p.m. ET
Gunmen killed a senior aide to the former Ukrainian president Viktor F. Yanukovych outside a school in a suburb of Madrid on Wednesday morning, according to the Spanish authorities and local news reports.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said that police officers had responded to an emergency call around 9:15 a.m. about a person with gunshot wounds in the town of Pozuelo de Alarcón. It identified the victim as Andriy Portnov, saying he was shot “several times” in the back and head as he was getting into a vehicle.
The ministry did not provide further details on any potential suspects or a motive, saying only that there were “several” attackers who had fled the scene and that a homicide investigation was underway to “clarify events.” Local news media reported that Mr. Portnov was shot near the private American School of Madrid, which has not commented publicly on the episode.
Mr. Portnov served as the deputy head of Mr. Yanukovych’s administration from 2010 to 2014, when Ukrainians took to the streets to protest the president’s decision to forgo closer ties to Europe and instead more closely align with Moscow. The uprising ousted the government of Mr. Yanukovych, who fled to Russia with several allies.
Mr. Portnov, a former politician, also went into exile but had retained some influence in Ukraine.
Reports said that he had returned to Ukraine after the 2019 election of President Volodymyr Zelensky but that he later left again.
In December 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on Mr. Portnov and his charitable foundation on allegations of corruption and bribery.
It was unclear whether Mr. Portnov had more recently been engaged in any political activity.
Maria Varenikova covers Ukraine and its war with Russia.
