Ukrainian ex-Putin ally Andriy Portnov shot dead outside the American School in Madrid

A former pro-Putin Ukrainian politician was gunned down after dropping his children off at school in a wealthy Spanish neighbourhood.

Andriy Portnov, 51, was a senior aide to Ukraine’s former President and Putin sympathiser, Viktor Yanukovych, who was exiled in 2014 and has lived in Russia ever since.

Police were called around 9.15 am, when ‘two or three gunmen’ shot and killed Portnov outside the gates of the American School in Pozuelo, Madrid, before running into a nearby forest.

Local radio station Cadena SER said he had just taken his children to school when the gunshots rang out.

He had moved to Madrid around April 2024, according to a document seen by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report.

A Spanish police source told El Pais: ‘One shot, the fatal one, was to the head, at the level of the neck, from behind but at an angle, and the other two to the body, in the abdomen and side.’

Witness Ines told local media: ‘I woke up with a very loud noise of six or seven shots… I knew those weren’t firecrackers. I heard a scream. We saw a man on the ground.’

Luis Rayo, 19, lives in a building next to the school, and said that he was sleeping when he heard the sound of gunfire.

‘I heard five bullets and then came here to see what happened,’ Rayo said.

Other witnesses have described the killing as a ‘professional hit’ and said the killer waited for his victim to drop his daughter off before striking.

A school employee later confirmed students had already been inside the school at the time of the shooting, and the school is trying to ‘organise a response’.

Metro has contacted the American School for comment.

It’s unclear how long Portnov had been living in Spain. He was sanctioned by the United States under the Magnitsky Act for ‘buying access and decisions in Ukraine’s courts and undermining reform efforts’.

The Magnitsky Act, named after lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was assassinated in Russia, allows sanctions on foreign individuals involved in serious human rights abuses and corruption.

Who is Viktor Yanukovych, former President of Ukraine?

Andriy Portnov worked as a senior aide for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Yanukovych was elected President in 2010, but his pro-Russia policies sparked furore among Ukrainians.

In 2014, he suspended all trade and talks with the EU in an attempt to revive a relationship with Moscow.

This began months of protests in Kyiv, which included bloodshed, leading to parliament voting for his removal.

Yanukovych and many of his aides and allies have lived in exile in Russia ever since.

A National Police spokesperson said: ‘All we can confirm is that a man has been shot dead outside a school in Pozuelo de Alarcon.

‘We received a call around 9.15 am. There was nothing emergency responders could do to save the victim. An investigation has been launched and is ongoing.’

Police are using helicopters and drones to search the area for the suspects in Portnov’s murder.

Forensic police are still at the scene as the investigation continues.

Spain has had a number of incidents of violence since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In one instance, a letter bomb was sent to the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, injuring an employee.

And a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine after the invasion was found dead near Benidorm with more than a dozen gunshots.

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