Maxim Kuzminovthe Russian soldier who was found dead in Spain, did not want to go to war and ended up flying his Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine in a joint operation with that country’s intelligence service.

The pilot’s death has been confirmed this Monday by the representative of the Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR), Andri Yusov, who indicated to the media that the fact of death can be “confirmed.” Furthermore, according to sources close to the investigation, it was found in an urbanization in Villajoyosa (Alicante) and the Civil Guard was investigating it as a settling of accounts.

The pilot, 28 years old, graduated from the Sizran Aviation School, in southern Russia. He was assigned to serve in the Russian Far East and among his colleagues he had a reputation for being a “calm person”, who asked for “peaceful work”, such as cargo operations that had nothing to do with military missions, according to the TV channel. Baza Russian Telegram.

His friends say that Maxim had “fear of dying in war” and wanted to leave the Army even before the start of the war in ukraine but “they wouldn’t let him.” Furthermore, the pilot was terrified of being captured in Ukraine. According to Baza, Kuzminov’s mother He would also have left Russia before his son defected to Ukraine with his helicopter in the summer of 2023.

Once in Ukraine, to which he flew without the other two members of his crew finding out about his destination and who were despondent after refusing to surrenderKuzminov said that He didn’t want to be involved in war crimes.

Half a million dollars before the operation

According to the young man’s story, he contacted representatives of Ukrainian military intelligence, who then They guaranteed their safetythey offered him new documents and compensation of half a million dollars before proceeding to plan the operation.

Kuzminov made the final decision while flying near the Russian-Ukrainian border on August 9. He then guided the helicopter across the border at an extremely low altitude. “Apparently, during 3 or 4 days no one (in Russia) understood what happened to me. “I landed and they welcomed me (in Ukraine),” he said. According to the video released by Kyiv, Kuzminov was injured after landing, but was offered medical assistance in time. During the recording of the video, the pilot and his family were in Ukraine , according to that country’s military intelligence.

Meanwhile, in Russia, the Military Training Committee opened a case for “treason” against Kuzminov and the relatives of his two companions who were murdered after landing in Ukraine asked him to pay with his life for what he did. “If Maxim really did what he did, I hope they find him and kill him,” said the wife of one of the helicopter navigators, quoted by Russian television. Kuzminov’s crewmates were decorated post-mortem by the Russian authorities.