An adviser to an ex-Ukrainian president is killed near an American school in Spain, officials say

POZUELO DE ALARCON, Spain (AP) — An adviser to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was shot to death Wednesday outside the American School of Madrid, where at least one of his children was enrolled, Spanish authorities and witnesses said.

Andrii Portnov, 51, was shot at 9:15 a.m. (0715 GMT) as students were arriving, Spain's Interior Ministry said.

Portnov was a former politician tied closely to Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was ousted in a popular uprising in 2014 after shelving plans to bring the country closer to the European Union and instead deepen ties with President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Yanukovych's ouster in February 2014 followed a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, with dozens of people killed, many by police snipers.

Portnov was deputy head of the presidential office in that period and was involved in drafting legislation aimed at punishing participants of the uprising. Ukrainian authorities opened a treason case against him, which was later closed, and he also was the subject of U.S. sanctions involving corruption in Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on Portnov's killing.

Witnesses said Portnov was shot several times in the head and body by more than one gunman when he was getting into a Mercedes Benz registered to him, police said. The unidentified assailants then fled on foot, and local media reported police helicopters later flew over a nearby park.

Portnov died in the parking lot with at least three shots to his body, Madrid’s emergency services said.

He had one child enrolled at the school, according to a parent and an uncle of students there who spoke with The Associated Press. The school declined to comment.

After fleeing Ukraine in 2014, Portnov reportedly lived in Russia in 2015 before relocating to Austria. It wasn’t immediately clear when he moved to Spain.

In 2018, when pro-Western Petro Poroshenko was president of Ukraine, the country’s Security Service, or SBU, opened an investigation against Portnov on suspicion of state treason, alleging his involvement in Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. The criminal case was closed in 2019, three months after Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to power.

The United States imposed personal sanctions on Portnov in 2021, designating him as someone “responsible for or complicit in, or (who) has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery.”

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there have been a number of killings of high-profile figures linked to Moscow and Kyiv.

The killings have included Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist; military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky; and several high-ranking Russian military officers. In those instances, Ukraine denied involvement.

One exception was former Ukrainian lawmaker Illia Kyva, who fled to Russia before the invasion and was killed there in 2023. The SBU said in a statement that its chief, Vasyl Maliuk, has said the enemies of Ukraine “will definitely be held accountable for their crimes.”

One killing that prompted speculation of retaliation by Moscow was the shooting death in Spain last year of Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who defected to Ukraine in 2023, although there was no independent confirmation of Russia's involvement.

Police cordoned off a crime scene in a parking lot outside the gate of the American School of Madrid, located in the upscale town of Pozuelo de Alarcón, north of Madrid.

Luis Rayo, 19, who lives in a neighboring building, said he was sleeping when he heard gunfire and went to see what happened.

Timur Ayaokur, 17, said he was 20 minutes into his first class when he and his classmates heard of the shooting. School administrators told students that a man had been shot and pronounced dead outside.

“I thought it was a drill,” said Ayaokur, who is in 11th grade. “I was worried because at first I thought it might be a parent of someone I know.”

His mother, Elina Ayaokur, who is originally from Azerbaijan, said she knew someone through the emigre community with the same first name as the victim, but did not know him well.

“I didn’t know there were Ukrainian politicians there,” Ayaokur said, adding that the man she knew had a son in the fourth grade. “I was in shock. Like how is it possible that this happens here?”

This story has been updated to clarify that Ayaokur said she knew someone with the same first name as the victim. It also clarifies that her acquaintance has a son in the fourth grade.

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Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain, and Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed.

Members of the judicial police work near the body of Andrii Portnov, an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, after Portnov was shot outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Members of the judicial police at the scene after Andrii Portnov, an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot, outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Members of the judicial police at the scene after Andrii Portnov, an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot, outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

A view of the scene after Andrii Portnov, an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, was shot, outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Members of the judicial police at the scene after Andriy Portnov, an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot, outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

A view of the scene after Andriy Portnov, an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, was shot, outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Police officers cordon off the area after an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot, outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Police officers cordon off the area after an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot, outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Members of the judicial police at the scene after an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot, outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Members of the judicial police at the scene after an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot, outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Members of the judicial police work next to the body of an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, at the scene of a shooting, outside a school in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)