Andriy Portnov, a former pro-Russian Ukrainian politician, reportedly killed outside a Spanish American school

A former pro-Russian politician from Ukraine was fatally shot dead outside his children's school Wednesday morning, Reuters News Agency and multiple Spanish media reports. Andriy Portnov was reportedly killed outside a U.S. school in Madrid by an unidentified gunman or gunman.

"Several people shot back and head and fled to the forest area," Reuters quoted a source from the Spanish Ministry of Interior, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Spanish national police or other authorities did not immediately identify the person killed, nor did they show motives or any suspects that might be identified. Witnesses told Spanish media that at least one possible suspect was seen hitting a nearby forest area.

According to the Spanish newspaper El Diario, citing witnesses, Portnov was shot dead after getting out of the American School. Photos at the scene show a man lying quietly on the ground behind the Mercedes sedan.

Spain - Ukraine - Russia - Politics - Damin — On May 21, 2025, a policeman next to the police was reportedly seen in front of an American school in Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid, reportedly former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov. Oscar del Pozo/AFP/Getty

Portnov was a senior aid to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, a pro-Russian leader who was ousted during the Euromaidan Revolution in 2014. That ouster brought Ukraine's current, Western-backed government to power, and it infuriated Russia, which launched its first, initial invasion of Ukrainian territory that same year, quickly culminating in the uninternal Annexation of Crimea.

Portnov is a lawyer whose political opponents in Ukraine accused him of helping to establish a legal framework that would allow the former government in Kiev to combat protesters during the 2014 pro-democracy uprising.

Despite his close ties to the Yanukovich government, Portnov continued to live in Ukraine after the 2014 revolution until he left the country in 2022, according to Ukrainian Radio.

In 2021, Portnov was approved by the U.S. Treasury Department under the Magnitsky Act, a U.S. law aimed at foreigners involved in corruption and human rights violations.

Archive photo: Ukrainian President Yanukovych and his deputy head of the government Portnov, shake hands in Kiev — On August 2, 2010, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych saw the leftist side at Andriy Portnov, deputy director of the Presidential Administration in Kiev, Ukraine. Round beam/Reuters

The U.S. government accused him of "building extensive ties with Ukraine's judicial and law enforcement agencies through bribery" and said he was "reliably accused of using his influence to purchase visits and decisions in Ukrainian courts and undermining efforts to reform".

"As of 2019, Potnov has taken steps to control the Ukrainian judiciary, influence relevant legislation, trying to place loyal officials in senior judicial positions and purchase court rulings," the Ministry of Finance said.

In Spain there are a series of crimes that seem to be with Russia - Ukrainian War Since Putin ordered a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

At the end of the same year, A series of letter bombs Targeted and highly-watched agencies include the Ukrainian and U.S. Embassies in Madrid and the Spanish Ministry of Defense. In early 2024 Maxim KuzminovA Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine was killed near Alicante in southeastern Spain.