Media investigate how Russian pilot defector got to Spain PHOTO

A Spanish newspaper has published a scan of an allegedly forged passport of Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who hijacked a Russian army Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine. The Ukrainian passport states that his name is Igor Shevchenko and that he was born in Donetsk in September 1990.

According to El Periodico, Maxim Kuzminov used this passport to enter Spain in October 2023. According to the newspaper, the Spanish security services are trying to find out whether the passport was issued by the Ukrainian authorities and who in Spain knew about it.

Earlier, it was reported that a man had been shot dead in the Spanish town of Villajoyosa on February 13 and that documents found on him identified him as a 33-year-old Ukrainian. Spanish media later said that the documents were forged and that the deceased was Maxim Kuzminov (he was 28 years old and a Russian citizen).