Spanish police suspect bullet-riddled body may be Russian who defected with army helicopter

By CIARÁN GILES
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Spanish police say they suspect the bullet-riddled body of a man found in an eastern town is that of Russian defector Maksim Kuzminov, who flew a Russian army helicopter on his escape across the Ukrainian front lines last year. Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukrainian military intelligence, confirmed to Ukrainian media that the former Russian pilot had died in Spain, but didn’t provide details. Spain’s Civil Guard said they found false documents on a body discovered Feb. 13 in the entrance to a residential complex in La Cala, near the eastern port city of Alicante. They said the documents identified the man as a 33-year-old Ukrainian, but police now believe it could be Kuzminov.