The alleged killer of a former Ukrainian lawmaker has been arrested in Germany, according to Spanish police on Wednesday, February 26th.
Andriy Portnov, 51, was killed in May 2025—shot dead last year outside an American private school in Madrid suburb Pozuelo de Alarcón—shortly after dropping off his children.
According to Spain’s National Police, officers working in coordination with their German federal counterparts detained the suspected shooter in Heinsberg, near the Dutch border. Authorities did not specify when the arrest took place.
Portnov previously served as deputy head of the presidential administration under former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia in 2014.
In 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on Portnov over corruption allegations, stating that he had used his influence within Ukraine’s judiciary and law enforcement bodies to gain access to courts and undermine reform efforts.
Portnov later lived in Russia and Austria before returning to Ukraine after the election of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to media reports, he used his connections within the spheres of power to escape Ukraine again in 2022, despite a ban on men liable for military service leaving the country.
