Former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov, who served as a senior aide to pro-Russian former President Viktor Yanukovych, has been shot dead outside a school near Madrid, Spain, according to a Spanish national police source. Portnov, 51, was attacked around 9:15 a.m. local time as he was getting into a car. Assailants shot him multiple times in the back and head before fleeing into a wooded area.

The shooting occurred outside The American School of Madrid, located in Pozuelo de Alaracon, a suburb west of Madrid. The school sent urgent messages to parents, assuring them that all students were safe. A source close to the school indicated that the victim was believed to be the father of a student at the school, which has over 1,000 students from the United States, Spain, and other countries.

Portnov was sanctioned by the United States in 2021 under the Magnitsky Act for corruption and bribery. The U.S. Treasury Department stated that he was “credibly accused of using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine’s courts and undermining reform effort.” The Magnitsky Act, enacted in 2012, allows the U.S. to block entry and freeze assets of Russian and pro-Russian officials accused of human rights violations.

The Security Service of Ukraine had previously investigated Portnov’s potential involvement in Russia’s annexation of Crimea, but the case was later closed. Following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Portnov fled Ukraine, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Canada also froze his assets in 2014 as part of a crackdown on “corrupt foreign officials” due to his work as an advisor to ex-President Yanukovych.

Portnov was appointed deputy head of Yanukovych’s administration in 2010, along with heading Ukraine’s Main Directorate for Judicial Reform and Judicial System. He also became a member of the board of the National Bank of Ukraine. Yanukovych was ousted from office in 2014 after turning away from the European Union, favoring closer ties with Russia. He then fled to Russia with Portnov and other officials after the pro-democracy Maidan protests.

Portnov returned to Ukraine in 2019. Despite a petition in December 2024 from media and civil society organizations demanding sanctions against him for alleged continued corruption and targeting critical journalists, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers rejected it, citing insufficient grounds. Portnov had previously released the personal data of journalists investigating his dealings with the Ukrainian government.

Portnov is not the only Yanukovych ally to be killed after the former president's ouster. In 2015, two high-profile shooting deaths occurred in Kyiv: one of a former member of parliament with ties to Yanukovych, and another of a journalist known for pro-Russian views. These killings sparked speculation about a conspiracy targeting people close to Yanukovych, especially after three former members of parliament from his party died by suspected suicide.