Former Russian helicopter pilot and defector Maksim Kuzminov was assassinated by an unknown killer in Villajoyosa, Spain, in late March 2024.

Maksim Kuzminov, a former Russian Mi-8 attack helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine in 2023 and received a $500,000 reward, was assassinated on a Tuesday afternoon in late March 2024 in Villajoyosa, a coastal resort town in Spain. He was shot five times with small-caliber bullets, one piercing his heart, near his condominium parking garage. Spanish police and European intelligence agencies suspect the Kremlin ordered the killing, though no suspect has been publicly identified. Kuzminov had publicly encouraged other Russian soldiers to defect and participated in a Ukrainian defense ministry documentary about successful defections. This assassination is part of a broader pattern of suspicious deaths of Russians abroad who opposed Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Western and Ukrainian intelligence sources highlight a hardened Russian intelligence apparatus hunting defectors internationally to deter further defections. Western allies are actively recruiting Russian military personnel, with Ukraine operating a hotline for defection and Western intelligence agencies producing videos encouraging collaboration. Kuzminov had been living in Spain with a Ukrainian-issued passport under a cover identity but was killed despite security cameras and nearby police presence. The event illustrates the Kremlin's use of mafia-style assassination tactics abroad as a warning to dissenters and defectors.