Andriy Portnov’s daylight murder outside an elite international campus fuels speculation of a covert shadow war

Madrid — The early‑morning school run in the affluent suburb of Pozuelo de Alarcón turned deadly on 21 May 2025 when Andriy Portnov, a 51‑year‑old former Ukrainian lawmaker and ex‑deputy chief of staff to ousted pro‑Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych, was shot multiple times while escorting his children to the American School of Madrid.¹ Witnesses told Spanish broadcaster RTVE that two masked assailants emerged from a grey BMW, opened fire with silencer‑equipped pistols and fled into an adjacent pine gr…

Spanish National Police confirmed Portnov died at the scene despite efforts by school medics. Officers recovered at least nine 9×19 mm shell casings and were examining CCTV footage from nearby villas and traffic cameras. Interior Minister Fernando Grande‑Marlaska said the killing bore “the hallmarks of a professionally planned hit” and ordered the counter‑terrorism unit to assist homicide detectives.²

Portnov, once a fixture of Kyiv’s political elite, fled Ukraine after Yanukovych’s 2014 downfall and settled in Austria before relocating to Spain under a golden‑visa programme in 2022. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned him in 2021 under the Magnitsky Act for allegedly obstructing anti‑corruption reforms; Ukraine’s security service (SBU) had opened a treason probe accusing him of aiding Russian intelligence.³

His lawyer, José Marín, said Portnov had “no personal bodyguards” and believed Spain was safer than Vienna, where he reported receiving anonymous death threats. Marín declined to speculate on motives but did not rule out a political assassination. Ukrainian authorities denied involvement, while the Kremlin called the murder “another tragic example of anti‑Russian hysteria abroad.”

The brazen daylight shooting has rattled Madrid’s expatriate community and reignited debate over Spain’s role as a sanctuary for oligarchs and political exiles. The American School, which counts diplomats’ children among its 1,000‑plus students, closed for 48 hours and deployed additional private security.

Spanish investigators are pursuing two angles: a contract killing ordered by either Ukrainian or Russian operatives, or criminal retaliation tied to Portnov’s reported investments in Eastern European real estate.4 A law‑enforcement source told *El País* that Portnov had recently moved €3 million through Gibraltar‑based shell companies, attracting scrutiny from Spain’s anti‑money‑laundering unit.

For Kyiv, Portnov’s death removes a controversial figure who had sued journalists and anti‑corruption activists. Yet Ukrainian officials worry the assassination could be exploited by Moscow to allege a Western safe‑haven is unsafe for Russians. “We condemn any act of violence abroad,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a carefully worded statement.

Analysts note a pattern: in August 2023 former Russian mercenary commander Maksim Kuzminov was shot in Villajoyosa on Spain’s Costa Blanca, while Chechen refugee Tumso Abdurakhmanov was killed in Sweden in 2022. “Europe is becoming the new battleground for Russia’s and Ukraine’s clandestine services,” said security expert Miguel Ángel Ballesteros.5

Social‑media disinformation has already filled the void left by scarce official details. Pro‑Kremlin Telegram channels claim the SBU orchestrated the hit, while Ukrainian channels suggest an FSB false‑flag. Spain’s Guardia Civil cyber‑unit is monitoring coordinated campaigns aimed at sowing panic among Eastern European diasporas.

Autopsies and ballistic tests are due within days, but the investigation could be protracted if it crosses multiple jurisdictions. As students return to class under the watchful eye of armed police, the lingering question remains: who ordered the hit on Andriy Portnov—and what message was it meant to send?