Overview

• Andriy Portnov, a former senior aide to Ukraine’s ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, was shot multiple times outside the American School of Madrid on May 21, 2025.
• The attackers, described as two or three unidentified gunmen, fled into a wooded area near the scene after the shooting.
• Spanish police have launched a homicide investigation, with organized crime being considered the most likely motive, though political violence has not been ruled out.
• Portnov, who fled Ukraine after the 2014 Euromaidan protests, was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2021 for corruption and alleged judicial interference.
• The incident highlights escalating targeted violence against Russian and Ukrainian expatriates in Spain since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.