Moscow welcomes reports of defected pilot’s death
A senior Russian official on Tuesday welcomed media reports of the death in Spain, which has not yet been confirmed by local authorities, of a Russian army helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine. “This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse from the moment he planned his heinous and heinous crime”, the director of the Russian foreign intelligence service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, has been revealed, quoted by the official TASS agency. However, he did not confirm or deny Russian involvement in the alleged deaths.
The pilot in question, Maxim Kouzminov, boarded a Russian Army Mi-8 helicopter in August 2023 and returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory in a sign of protest against the conflict in Ukraine. Departing from a base in the Kursk region, he claimed in a video released in September by Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) that he stole. “Extremely low altitude, in radio silence mode” To not be seen.
According to GUR, two accomplices who accompanied him – who were unaware of his plan – were killed by Ukrainian forces while trying to escape, after reaching Ukraine. Pro-Kremlin Russian media have accused the pilot of shooting down the two men.
Maxim Kuzminov said he secretly planned his defection for months with the Ukrainian services. And he called on other Russian soldiers to do the same.
On Monday, Spanish media said he was found dead, shot, in the city of Villajoyosa (south-east). Local officials said they found a body there recently, but have not yet confirmed its identity. According to a Spanish judicial source, which also did not confirm the identity, the man killed in Villajoyosa had credentials matching a 33-year-old Ukrainian.
