Spanish police suspect bullet-riddled body may be that of Russian who defected

Russian defector Maksim Kuzminov at a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, in September 2023 (Vladyslav Musiienko/AP)

Police have said they suspect the bullet-riddled body of a man found in Spain is that of a Russian defector who escaped across the front line and into Ukraine last year with an army helicopter.

The body was found on February 13 in La Cala, near the eastern port city of Alicante, according to Civil Guard police.