Former Ukrainian politician who served in Yanukovych administration reportedly shot dead in Madrid suburb

Andriy Portnov, a top aide to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, was shot dead outside the gates of a school in the Spanish town of Pozuelo de Alarcón on Wednesday, Sky News and Reuters report.

According to Reuters, police received a call about the shooting at 9:15 a.m. local time. The authorities have not officially named the victim. Sky News reports that Portnov was dropping off his children at the American School of Madrid when an unidentified assailant opened fire.

Portnov, 51, was born in Ukraine’s Luhansk region and worked as a lawyer before being elected to the Ukrainian parliament in 2006. After Yulia Tymoshenko lost the 2010 presidential election, he represented her in court. From 2011 to 2014, Portnov worked in President Viktor Yanukovych's administration. He left Ukraine in early 2014 following Yanukovich's ouster.

In 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on Portnov, alleging that he had used bribes to “establish extensive ties to Ukraine’s judicial and law enforcement systems” and leveraged his influence to “manipulate court decisions.” In 2019, Portnov announced his return to Ukraine. He supported Volodymyr Zelensky in the presidential election and began filing complaints with the State Bureau of Investigation against former President Petro Poroshenko. accusing him of “criminal actions” while in office. In June 2022, according to the RFE/RL investigative project Schemes, Portnov left Ukraine again.