Medvedev Comments In Some Words On Murder Of Russian Who Hijacked Mi-8

The pilot was killed in Spain on February 19.

In the evening of February 21, former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev posted on his telegram channel a video commentary on the death of 28-year-old pilot Maxim Kuzminov in Spain.

"A dog's death for a dog," Medvedev said.

"It doesn't matter from whose hands?" specified the politician's interlocutor.

"I've said it all," replied the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

Earlier the pilot's death was commented in a similar tone by Sergei Naryshkin, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

"You know, it is a tradition in Russia to speak well or to say nothing about a dead man. This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse already at the moment when he was planning his dirty and terrible crime," Naryshkin said when asked to comment on media reports about Kuzminov's death.

We remind you that on February 19, there appeared reports that 28-year-old Kuzminov had been killed in the Spanish town of Villajoyosa in the province of Alicante on February 13. It was noted that the arriving police counted at least 12 bullet holes in the body, and 100,000 euros were also found with the murdered.

The information about Kuzminov's death was confirmed by the representative of the GUR Andrei Yusov.

In October 2023, the Rossiya-1 channel broadcast a report in which unnamed GRU special forces fighters said that pilot Kuzminov "will not live to see trial." The journalist off-screen noted that the order to eliminate Maxim Kuzminov physically had already been received and its execution was only a matter of time. In response, the military promised to punish the pilot defector.

Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov hijacked an Mi-8 helicopter and successfully landed it on Ukrainian territory. The pilot acted by prior agreement with the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (MID), flying at an ultra-low altitude to avoid being spotted by radar. The operation was dubbed "Sinitsa" and the MID considers it the most successful since the start of the full-scale invasion. In addition to a working helicopter, Kuzminov handed over classified documents to the AFU. Two crew members of the helicopter did not know about Kuzminov's plans and were killed almost immediately after landing. Kuzminov was paid a $500,000 reward for the hijacked helicopter.