Andriy Portnov: Ex-Ukraine presidential adviser shot dead during school run in Madrid

Police cordoned off the area where an adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot, outside a school in Madrid - (AP)

An adviser to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was shot dead when gunmen targeted him outside the American School of Madrid, Spanish authorities have said.

Andriy Portnov, 52, was identified as the victim by Spain's Interior Ministry.

He was shot at 9.15am local time (0815 BST), authorities said.

Local media reported that he was killed after dropping his children off for class.

Witnesses reported that Mr Portnov was shot “several times” in the head and body by more than one gunman when he was getting into a vehicle, police said.

The assailants then fled on foot into a wooded area, officers said.

Police cordoned off a crime scene in a car park around 150 metres (500ft) outside the gate of the American School of Madrid.

Mr Portnov is a former Ukrainian politician closely tied to Mr Yanukovych, having served as deputy head of the presidential office from 2010 to 2014.

During Mr Yanukovych's presidency, Mr Portnov was widely viewed as a pro-Russia political figure and was involved in drafting legislation aimed at persecuting participants of the 2014 revolution in Ukraine.

Andriy Portnov (left) with then-Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on February 19, 2010 (AFP via Getty Images)

Luis Rayo, 19, lives in a building next to the school, and said that he was sleeping when he heard the sound of gunfire.

"I heard five bullets and then came here to see what happened," Mr Rayo said.

After fleeing Ukraine in 2014, Mr Portnov reportedly lived in Russia in 2015 before relocating to Austria.

It was not immediately clear when he moved to Spain.

In 2018, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) opened an investigation against him on suspicion of state treason, alleging his involvement in Russia's illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

The criminal case was closed in 2019.

In 2021, the United States imposed personal sanctions on Mr Portnov, 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".