08:10
Faizan
Recently, events on the Iberian Peninsula have dominated the front pages of global media. And if you think this is about warm seas, sandy beaches, and paradise-like vacations under sprawling palm trees — you’d be mistaken.
Sunny Spain is rapidly gaining notoriety as a hotspot for murders, kidnappings, and robberies. Just take a look at these headlines:
April 19, 2022 — Sergey Protosenya, his wife, and daughter found dead in Lloret de Mar (Girona);
February 19, 2024 — Maksim Kuzminov, who hijacked a Russian military helicopter in 2023, was allegedly found dead in Spain;
May 21, 2025 — Shock over the murder of Andrei Portnov at the gates of a school in Pozuelo de Alarcón.
Were the perpetrators caught? As of now — no. Most investigations are classified by Spanish authorities and conducted away from the public eye due to high resonance, political implications, and possible links between clients and executors. Presumably, these cases are part of a larger investigation under the so-called “Russian trace.” But the lack of witnesses and the criminals’ “professionalism” significantly complicates the search.
However, recent events may help shed light on these crimes — witnesses of Russian criminal groups’ “work” in sunny Spain miraculously survived, though they endured kidnapping, beatings, and the loss of $15 million.
How did they survive? Simply put — they escaped.
More details? Make yourself comfortable.
The events of the latest high-profile crime on Spanish territory unfolded as follows:
On May 19, 2025, the quiet and serene town of Cabo Roig (Orihuela Costa) in the province of Alicante basked in the warmth of May waters washing over its idyllic beaches and hidden harbors — havens for luxury yachts and lavish estates so beloved by wealthy citizens from around the world. Among those enjoying this paradise was the family of Russian investment banker and founder of the American financial firm Black Bull Advisors —Alexander Artyukhin.
Yes, that same Artyukhin who was one of the first — if not still one of the few — to successfully pass the stringent compliance process of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which enabled him to found an investment firm in 2018 with capital exceeding $50 million and a portfolio of successfully executed cases
