Sanctioned Ukrainian ex-politician shot dead outside Madrid’s American school

By Al Goodman, Lauren Kent and Jack Guy, CNN

Madrid, Spain (CNN) — Former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov, who worked as a senior aide to pro-Russian former President Viktor Yanukovych, has been shot dead outside a school near the Spanish capital Madrid, Spanish authorities told CNN.

Portnov, 51, a lawyer and former lawmaker, was the deputy head of Yanukovych’s administration before it was ousted in Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy uprising.

He was shot several times by multiple assailants on Wednesday as he was getting into a car around 9:15 a.m. local time (3:15 a.m. ET), a Spanish police source told CNN, adding that the assailants fled into a wooded area. The Madrid region’s Summa emergency services said he had three gunshot wounds, including one to the head, and he died shortly after the first ambulance arrived on the scene.

The shooting took place outside the American School of Madrid, located in Pozuelo de Alaracon, an affluent suburb just west of Madrid.

The school sent out various urgent messages to parents following the incident, which took place shortly after school drop-off, noting that all students were safe and that the school believes the victim is the father of a student but was awaiting formal identification, a source close to the school told CNN. Police cordoned off the area outside the elite school, which has just over 1,000 students from the United States, Spain and several dozen other countries.

Portnov was sanctioned by the United States in 2021 for corruption and bribery under the Magnitsky Act. He was “credibly accused of using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine’s courts and undermining reform effort,” according to the US Treasury Department.

The Magnitsky Act, signed into law in December 2012, blocks entry into the US and freezes the assets of certain Russian and pro-Russian government officials and businessmen accused of human rights violations.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the office of the President of Ukraine have not commented on Portnov’s death.

The Security Service of Ukraine previously investigated Portnov’s possible involvement in Russia’s annexation of Crimea, but the case was later closed.

The former politician fled Ukraine months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to an investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, when men of draft age were not permitted to leave.

Canada also froze his assets in 2014 as part of a crackdown on “corrupt foreign officials,” in relation to his work as a former adviser to ousted ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Portnov was appointed deputy head of Yanukovych’s administration in 2010, as well as the head of Ukraine’s Main Directorate for Judicial Reform and Judicial System. At the same time, Portnov became a member of the board of the National Bank of Ukraine.

Yanukovych was driven from office by mass demonstrations in Ukraine in 2014 after he turned his back on the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.

Yanukovych then fled Ukraine for Russia, along with Portnov and other high-level former officials in the wake of the 2014 pro-democracy, pro-European Maidan protests. Portnov later returned to Ukraine in 2019.

Ukraine itself never imposed sanctions on Portnov.

In December 2024, media and civil society organizations in the country launched a petition demanding sanctions against him, alleging continued corruption aimed at controlling the Ukrainian judiciary, and highlighting concerns that he was going after critical journalists with lawsuits and threats. Portnov once released the personal data of several members of an investigative journalism project run by RFE/RL, who were looking into his dealings with the Ukrainian government.

The petition gathered 25,000 signatures, but Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers rejected it, citing insufficient grounds for sanctions.

Other killings

Portnov is not the only ally of former Ukrainian President Yanukovych who was killed after he was ousted from power.

In 2015, CNN reported on two high-profile shooting deaths in the Ukrainian capital – one of a former member of parliament with ties to Yanukovych, the other of a Ukrainian journalist known for his pro-Russian views.

At the time, those killings renewed speculation about a conspiracy to kill people close to Yanukovych, after three former members of parliament from his political party died by suspected suicide, found dead in their homes.

Spain has also experienced a recent spate of attacks related to the Russia-Ukraine war, and it has significant populations of expatriates from both countries.

In 2022, there was an explosion at Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid, injuring one Ukrainian employee who was handling a letter addressed to Kyiv’s ambassador to Spain, officials said.

Other letter bombs followed, including one sent to the Spanish prime minister. A Spanish man was eventually arrested for the bombs, which a judge said were intended to disturb public peace and create pressure for Spain to suppress its support to Ukraine.

Spain has provided humanitarian and military support to Ukraine since the Russian invasion.

In 2024, a Russian pilot who dramatically defected to Ukraine by flying his helicopter across the border was found dead in Alicante, Spain, after being shot in the parking garage of an apartment building.

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Al Goodman reported from Madrid. Lauren Kent and Jack Guy wrote and reported from London.