Murdered on the school run: The controversial Ukrainian gunned down in Madrid

Andriy Portnov's murder in a Madrid suburb has shocked Ukrainians, but it has not exactly triggered an outpouring of grief. The controversial former official had just dropped his children off at the American School when he was shot several times in the car park. The image of his lifeless body lying face down in a gym kit marked the end of a life synonymous with Ukrainian corruption and Russian influence. Ukraine's media have been discussing the 51-year-old's frequent threats to journalists, as well as his huge influence under the country's last pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych. "A man who called for the killing of political opponents suddenly got what he wanted from others," observed reporter Oleksandr Holubov. News website Ukrayinska Pravda even called him "the devil's advocate". Rare words of restraint came from Portnov's once political rival Serhiy Vlasenko, an MP, who said: "You can't kill people. When discussing someone's death, we must remain human." Portnov was controversial and widely disliked. The motives for his murder may seem evident, but his death has still left unanswered questions. Before entering Ukrainian politics, Portnov ran a law firm. He worked with then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko until 2010, before defecting to Yanukovych's camp when he won the election. "It was a big story of betrayal," remembers Ukrainian journalist Kristina Berdynskykh. "Because Tymoshenko was a pro-Western politician, and Yanukovych pro-Russian." The adviser became the country's first deputy head of the Presidential Office and set up a national criminal code in 2012. For him, his critics say, his ascent was less about politics, and more about power and influence. "He was just a good lawyer, everyone knew he was very smart," Kristina tells me. After thecollapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Ukraine inherited a judicial system in desperate need of reform. Mykhailo Zhernakov, a legal expert and head of the Dejure Foundation believes Portnov remoulded it in order for the government to cover up illegal schemes, and to mask Russian attempts to control the country. "He was the kingpin, mastermind and architect of this corrupt legal system designed to serve the pro-Russian administration at the time," he says. Over a decade, Portnov would sue journalists who wrote negative stories about him through the courts and judges he controlled. His attempts to control the judicial system would lead to him being sanctioned by the US. At the time, Washington accused the adviser of placing loyal officials in senior positions for his own benefit, as well as "buying court decisions". Portnov later pursued activists who took part in Ukraine's Maidan Revolution, whichtoppled Viktor Yanukovychfrom power, and forced him to escape the country to Russia. "He used sexual threats," says Oksana Romaniuk who remembers her and other journalists' interactions with Portnov well. As director of the Institute of Mass Information, she monitors free speech in Ukraine. Whenever a damning report was published, the reaction was familiar and consistent. "When people exposed his corruption, he accused them of fake news," she says. "Even when journalists had documents and testimonies backing up the allegations, it was impossible to win the lawsuits in court. It was impossible to defend yourself. It was a rotten system." Andriy Portnov eventually settled in Moscow after his old boss Yanukovych fled in 2014. Investigative reporter Maksym Savchuk subsequently investigated his ties to Moscow, as well as his extensive property portfolio there. "He responded with words I don't want to quote, derogatory ones about my mother," he remembers. "It's a trait of his character; he is a very vindictive person." Even after leaving Ukraine, Portnov still tried to influence Ukrainian politics by taking control of pro-Kremlin TV channel NewsOne. He returned in 2019, only to flee again with thefull-scale invasion in 2022. The irony of Portnov eventually settling in Spain and sending his children to a prestigious American school has not been lost on many. Alongside the undisguised delight in Portnov's death, there has been endless speculation over who was responsible. "It could have been the Russians because he knew so many things," suggests legal expert Mykhailo Zhernakov. "He was involved in so many shady Russian operations it could be them or other criminal groups. He managed to annoy a lot of people," he says. Despite the motives being clearer on this side of the border, Ukrainian security sources appear to be trying to distance themselves from the killing. Kyiv has previously carried out assassinations in Russian-occupied territory and in Russia itself, but not in Spain. Some Spanish media reports suggest his murder was not political, but rather over "economic reasons or revenge". "You can imagine how many people need to be interrogated in order to narrow down the suspects," thinks Maskym Savchuk. "Because this person has a thousand and one enemies." In Ukraine, Portnov is seen as someone who helped Russia form the foundations for its invasion. A once general dislike of him has only been intensified since 2022. Despite this, Mykhailo Zhernakov hopes his death is also an opportunity for wider judicial reforms. "Just because he's gone doesn't mean his influence has," he warns. "Because many of the people he appointed or helped get jobs are still in the system." Additional reporting by Hanna Chornous.