Murder Andri Portnov leaves unanswered questions and little sympathy

The murder of Andri Portnov in the Madrid suburb was shocked by the Ukrainians, but this did not quite cause the pouring of grief.

The controversial former official has just threw his children into an American school when he was shot in the parking lot several times.

The image of his inanimate body, which lay face down, included the end of his life, synonymous with Ukrainian corruption and Russian influence.

Ukraine’s media discuss frequent threats of 51-year-old journalists, as well as its huge influence within the last pro-Russian president in the country Viktor Yanukovych.

“The man who called for the murder of political opponents suddenly got what he wanted from others,” said reporter Alexandra Holubov. Ukrayinska Pravda even called the devil’s defender.

Rare words of restraint came from the once political competitor of Portnov Surci Vlasenko, a deputy who said: “You cannot kill people. When discussing whose death, we must remain human.”

Portnov was contradictory and disliked widely. The motives of his murder may seem obvious, but his death still remains unanswered.

Prior to the entry of Ukrainian Portov policy, he managed the law firm. Until 2010, he worked with the then Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko before going to Yanukovych’s camp when he won the election.

“It was a great story of betrayal,” recalls Ukrainian journalist Christina Berdinsky. “Because Tymoshenko was a prophet politician, and Yanukovych is pro -Russian.”

The advisor became the first deputy president in the country and created the National Criminal Code in 2012. For him, according to him, his criticism, his climb was less about politics and more about power and influence.

“He was just a good lawyer, everyone knew he was very intelligent,” Christina tells me.

After The Soviet Union collapse in the early 1990sUkraine inherited the judicial system in a desperate need for reform. Mikhail Zernakov, a legal expert and the head of the Dejuure Foundation, believes that Portov has pumped it out that the government covered the illegal schemes and mask Russia’s attempts to control the country.

“He was a royal, inspirer and architect of this corrupt legal system designed to serve the pro-Russian administration at the time,” he says.

For a decade, the ports sued the journalists who wrote about his negative stories through the courts and the judges he controlled. His attempts to control the judicial system will lead to the US sanction.

At the time, Washington accused advisers of placing loyal officials in his own benefit as well as “buying court decisions”.

Later, the ports were pursued by activists who participated in the Ukrainian Revolution, which Victor Yanukovych ousted From power and forced him to avoid the country to Russia.

“He used sexual threats,” says Oksana Ramanuk, who remembers her interaction and other journalists.

As the director of the Mass Media Institute, she monitors free speech in Ukraine.

Whenever a damn report was published, the reaction was familiar and consistent. “When people put it corruption, he accused them of fake news,” she says.

“Even if the journalists had documents and testimonies that support the allegations, it was impossible to win the trial in court. It was impossible to turn it off. It was a rotten system.”

After all, Andrei Portnov settled in Moscow after his old boss Yanukovych fled in 2014. After that, reporter Maxim Savchuk investigated his ties with Moscow, as well as his wide real estate portfolio.

“He replied with words I didn’t want to quote, humiliating about my mother,” he recalls. “This is a trait of his character; he is a very vindictive man.”

Even after leaving Ukraine, Portov still tried to influence Ukrainian politics, taking control of the Newsone Kremlin.

He returned in 2019, just to escape again with A full -scale invasion of 2022.

Portnov’s irony eventually settled in Spain and sending children to a prestigious American school was not lost.

Along with the uncertain passion for Portnov’s death, endless speculations on the occasion.

“It could have been a Russian because he knew so many things,” says legal expert Mikhail Zernak.

“He participated in such a number of shady Russian operations that it could be their or other criminal groups. He managed to annoy many people,” he says.

Despite the fact that the motives were clearer on this side of the border, Ukrainian security sources appear to be trying to distance their murder.

Earlier, Kyiv carried out killings in the Russian territory and Russia itself, but not in Spain.

Some Spanish media reports believe his murder was not political, but rather “economic revenge”.

“You can imagine how many people need to be questioned to narrow down the suspects,” Masmuk Savchuk said. “Because this man has a thousand enemies.”

In Ukraine, Portanov is considered as the one who helped Russia to make up for his invasion. Once a common dislike for it has intensified only since 2022.

Despite this, Mikhail Zernaki hopes that his death is also an opportunity for broader court reforms.

“Just because he left does not mean his influence,” he warns. “Because many people he has appointed or helped to get a job are still in the system.”

Additional reporting by Anna Black.