two of northern Gaza’s

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

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 byMembers 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 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)

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.

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)Orthodox Christian monk Father Spyridon speaks with a newly married French couple Thomas and Valentine on their way to the Monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa in Amorgos island, Greece, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Orthodox Christian monk Father Spyridon speaks with a newly married French couple Thomas and Valentine on their way to the Monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa in Amorgos island, Greece, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)Especially during Lent, Father Spyridon cherishes his mission to be present for his people – whether a short walk away or visiting from around the world.

“People are sent by God and it’s the responsibility of the monks to welcome them and feed their hunger for spirituality and for a better hope for the future,” he said.The monastery is blinding white in the Aegean sunshine. During the pitch-black nights, its small windows are the only specks of light in the swirl of stars.