Andriy Portnov’s murder in a quiet Madrid suburb has sent shockwaves—but not exactly waves of mourning—in Ukraine.
Why? Because Portnov was no hero.
After dropping his kids off at an American school, he was gunned down.
He left behind a legacy tangled in corruption and Kremlin ties.
Who Was Portnov?
Once a top adviser under Ukraine’s pro-Russian president Yanukovych.
He was notorious for bullying journalists and rigging courts.
He also built a judicial system critics call “rotten.”
Legal expert Mykhailo Zhernakov calls him “the kingpin” behind a corrupt system that helped Russia’s shadowy grip on Ukraine.
He even sued journalists into silence and earned sanctions from the US for buying court decisions.
Portnov fled to Moscow after Yanukovych’s fall.
Then he tried pulling strings from afar, controlling a pro-Kremlin TV channel and meddling in Ukrainian politics.
His sudden return in 2019 and flight again in 2022 only deepened the intrigue.
Who Killed Him?
Theories swirl—from Russian retribution to criminal revenge.
“He had a thousand and one enemies,” says investigative reporter Maksym Savchuk.
Ukraine’s security services keep their distance from the case, and Spain hints at economic motives.
