The murder of Andriy Portnov leaves unanswered questions and little sympathy

The murder of Andriy Portnov in a suburb of Madrid has shocked Ukrainians, but it did not precisely cause an outpouring of grief.

The controversial former civil servant had just dropped off his children at the American school when he was shot in the parking lot several times.

The image of his lifeless body that lies down with his face in a sports kit marked the end of a life that is synonymous with Ukrainian corruption and Russian influence.

The media of Ukraine have discussed the frequent threats of the 51-year-old for journalists, as well as his enormous influence among the last pro-Russian president of the country, Viktor Yanukovych.

“A man who called for killing political opponents suddenly got what he wanted from others,” noted Oleksandr Holubov. News website Ukrayinska Pravda even called him “The Devil’s Advocate”.

Rare words of restraint came from Portnov’s once political rival Serhiy Vlasenko, a member of parliament, who said, “You can’t kill people. We should stay human when discussing someone’s death.”

Portnov was controversial and welcome. The motives for his murder may seem clear, but his death has still left unanswered questions.

Before Portnov enters Ukrainian politics, Portnov had a law firm. He worked with the then Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, before he worked out the camp of Yanukovych when he won the elections.

“It was a big story of betrayal,” remembers the Ukrainian journalist Kristina Berdynskykh. “Because Tymoshenko was a pro-Western politician and Yanukovych pro-Russian.”

The adviser became the first deputy head of the presidential office of the country and founded a National Criminal Code in 2012. For him, his critics, his climb, were less about politics and more about power and influence.

“He was just a good lawyer, everyone knew he was very smart,” says Kristina.

After the Collapse of the Soviet Union in the early ninetiesUkraine inherited a judicial system in a desperate need for reform. Mykhailo Zhernakov, a legal expert and head of the Dejure Foundation, believes that Portnov left it to have the government obscured illegal regulations and Russian attempts to control the country.

“He was the Kingpin, brain and architect of this corrupt legal system that was then designed to serve the pro-Russian government,” he says.

For more than ten years, Portnov Journalists would sue who wrote negative stories about him through the courts and judges he checked. His attempts to control the judicial device would lead to being punished by the US.

At the time, Washington accused the adviser of placing loyal officials in higher positions for his own advantage, as well as “buying decisions from the court”.

Portnov later chased activists who participated in the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine, who Viktor Yanukovoordander overshadowed From power and forced him to escape the country to Russia.

“He used sexual threats,” says Oksana Romaniuk who well remembers the interactions of her and other journalists with Portnov.

As director of the Institute of Mass Information, she monitors free expression in Ukraine.

When a damn report was published, the reaction was known and consistent. “When people exposed his corruption, he accused them of fake news,” she says.

“Even when journalists had documents and testimonies that brought the allegations, it was impossible to win the court cases in court. It was impossible to defend yourself. It was a bad system.”

Andriy Portnov eventually settled in Moscow after his old boss Yanukovych fled in 2014. Research reporter Maksym Savchuk then investigated his ties with Moscow, as well as his extensive real estate portfolio there.

“He responded with words that I don’t want to quote, derogatory people about my mother,” he recalls. “It is a characteristic of his character; he is a very vengeful person.”

Even after leaving Ukraine, Portnov still tried to influence Ukrainian politics by controling pro-Kremlin TV Channel Newsone.

He returned in 2019, only to flee again with the Full invasion in 2022.

The irony of Portnov eventually settles in Spain and sending his children to a prestigious American school was not lost.

In addition to the undisguised pleasure in the death of Portnov, there has been endless speculation about who was responsible.

“It could have been the Russians because he knew so many things,” suggests legal expert Mykhailo Zhernakov.

“He was involved in so many shady Russian operations that she or other criminal groups could be. He managed to annoy many people,” he says.

Although the motives on this side of the border are clearer, Ukrainian safety sources seem to try to distance themselves from the murder.

Kyiv has previously performed murders on the Russian-occupied territory and in Russia itself, but not in Spain.

Some Spanish media reports suggest that his murder was not political, but rather about “economic reasons or revenge”.

“You can imagine how many people should be questioned to limit the suspects,” says Maskym Savchuk. “Because this person has a thousand and one enemies.”

In Ukraine, Portnov is seen as someone who helped Russia to form the basis for his invasion. A general aversion to him has only been intensified since 2022.

Nevertheless, Mykhailo Zhernakov hopes that his death is also a chance for broader judicial reforms.

“Only because he is gone does not mean that his influence has,” he warns. “Because many of the people he has appointed or helped jobs are still in the system.”

Additional reporting by Hanna Chornous.