The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain yesterday summoned the Russian ambassador to Madrid, Yuri Klimenko, following the death in prison of the Russian oppositionist Aleksei Navalni on Friday, according to diplomatic sources.
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, said yesterday that Navalni's death is "totally unjustified and should never have happened", and assured that the "ultimate responsible is, obviously, the one who he unjustly imprisoned for political reasons", in an implicit allusion to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Albares met in Brussels with Navalny's widow, Iúlia Navalnaia, with the rest of the European Union's foreign ministers, and asked that Russia clarify the causes of death "credibly" as soon as possible. . "I have expressed my support for Iúlia Navàlnaia, as I express it to so many defenders of democracy and freedom. The Government of Spain always, in every place in the world, supports those who defend democracy, freedom and human rights", said the minister in a press conference.
The summons of the Russian ambassador in Madrid also coincides with the confirmation that the Russian pilot Maksim Kuzminov, who deserted last August to surrender to the Ukrainian army with the helicopter he was piloting, has been found died in Spain, according to Ukrainian military intelligence sources cited by the Kyiv Post.
The death of the pilot was confirmed by the representative of the Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR), Andrí Yussov, who indicated to the media that the fact of death can be "confirmed", although he did not mention the place where they found dead Kuzminov
A GUR source told another Ukrainian media outlet, Ukrainska Pravda, that the pilot was shot dead. According to the same source, near his house they found a charred car that could have been used by the killers. Kuzminov had decided to move away instead of staying in Ukraine, according to this GUR source.
The circumstances of these events fully coincide with the murder of a Ukrainian citizen on Tuesday in Vila Joiosa (Marina Baixa) with half a dozen bullet impacts. The Civil Guard is investigating whether a vehicle that then appeared on fire in the neighboring town of Campello was the one used by the aggressor or aggressors to escape.
The defection became public in September when the GUR released footage in which the pilot - then 28 - explained how he was contacted by enemy military intelligence, who offered him to defect to the Ukrainian side in exchange of money and protection.
Kuzminov crossed the border by flying below the detection area of the radars along with other crew members who were unaware of the pilot's plans and died when they tried to escape after landing.
