Mundo: Spanish authorities knew about Kuzminov’s presence in the country from day one. The newspaper El Mundo reported that the Russian defector spent at most several days in the municipality of Villajoyosa, where his body was found.

The discovery of a man's corpse in Spain became known on February 19. A number of officials in Russia, including Medvedev, spoke out about the incident. It was reported that KuzMinov could have been killed, but this information was not confirmed.