Andriy Portnov (51), a former top Ukrainian politician who was assassinated in Madrid on Wednesday, apparently met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak, and his deputy Oleh Tatarov in Kyiv a few days before his death.

This is according to Ukrainian MP Olexandr Dubinsky. As reported by exxtra24, Portnov also lived in Perchtoldsdorf near Vienna for several months.

According to these reports, the meeting focused on preparations for the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine. Andriy Portnov, a former confidant of President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in 2014, was entrusted with sensitive tasks: According to Dubinsky, he was supposed to find ways to create legal hurdles for potential opponents and prevent them from participating, several Ukrainian media outlets reported.

In addition, Portnov was supposed to develop strategies to make votes from unregistered voters, deceased persons, missing soldiers, and Ukrainians living abroad (“dead souls”) usable for Zelensky, according to the allegations.

Informal contacts with other politicians

In addition to the official talks, Andriy Portnov is also said to have held an informal meeting with “Servant of the People” MP Maksym Buschanskyj. Shortly after his return to Spain, Portnov was shot dead in Madrid. A motorcyclist shot the former politician five times at point-blank range as he sat in his Mercedes and then fled.

Dubinsky, himself a controversial figure in Ukrainian politics, suspects that the silence of Zelensky, Yermak, Tatarov, and Bushansky regarding Portnov’s death is due to their desire to cover up the meetings with him. He announced that he would pass the information on to Spanish journalists and law enforcement agencies with the aim of questioning those involved during EU trips, as they do not have diplomatic immunity.

As is well known, Ukraine is still under martial law and regular elections are currently suspended, although they can no longer be prevented with the start of a ceasefire. Portnov’s contacts with high-ranking government officials shortly before his murder therefore raise politically explosive questions – especially since Portnov was previously considered the mastermind behind legal maneuvers in the service of the pro-Russian camp.

It is still unclear whether the Spanish authorities will follow up on this lead. The Ukrainian government has not yet commented publicly on the allegations or Portnov’s death. The authorities in Austria are also silent on the case, even though Andriy Portnov lived in Perchtoldsdorf for months and also founded a company there – it would be interesting to know why the former politician from Russia was granted a residence permit in Austria.

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