Andrei Portnov, the Ukrainian man killed in Pozuelo de Alarcón on Wednesday, was blacklisted by the Myrotvorets Center (Peacemaker in Spanish). This controversial Kyiv-based internet portal specializes in identifying individuals it considers “enemies of Ukraine.” It is dedicated to uncovering citizens who have carried out “activities against Ukraine’s national security” and does not hesitate to publish personal information and private data of its targets. Many of those selected by Myrotvorets have already been murdered.
In this particular case, the Myrotvorets Center labeled Andrei Portnov a “traitor” and accused him of “calling for the murder of Ukrainian citizens” and “fabricating trials against innocent people,” while allegedly collaborating with “the invasion of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and “violating Ukrainian law.”
Portnow’s personnel file concluded with the message: “The Myrotworets Center calls on the police authorities to consider this publication as a declaration that this citizen committed a deliberate act against the national security of Ukraine, the peace, security of humanity, and the international legal order, as well as other crimes.”
Following the murder of Portnow, who was shot dead on Wednesday after dropping his daughters off at the American school in Pozuelo, the Myrotworets portal updated his personnel file. A photo of his body with the note “liquidated” is already visible there. His settlement date (May 21, 2025) is also listed, along with his date of birth (October 27, 1973).
The Myrotvorets Center, founded in 2014 following the war in Donbas and Russia’s annexation of Crimea, defines itself as an “independent non-governmental organization” specializing in “investigating evidence of crimes against Ukraine’s national security, peace, security of humanity, as well as international law and order.” It emphasizes that it is dedicated to “recording and securely storing information about those whose actions contain evidence of criminal acts.”
Although the center officially has no ties to the Ukrainian government, one of its founders was politician George Tuka, former governor of the Luhansk region and deputy minister under Volodymyr Groisman’s government. Another supporter is Anton Gerashchenko, a former advisor to the Ministry of Internal Affairs under Zelensky. It is also known that information published by Myrotvorets has been used by Ukrainian security forces to arrest pro-Russian collaborators or even served as evidence in court proceedings.
“It’s a very dangerous list that should be closed.” In addition to politicians, businesspeople, activists, and journalists, Myrotvorets’ list also includes figures such as Roger Waters, the leader of Pink Floyd, who claimed the invasion of Ukraine was the result of an earlier “provocation,” and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who is listed for alleged “anti-Ukrainian propaganda.”
Also on the blacklist is Zelensky’s opponent Yevheniy Murayev, who is associated with Moscow and who spoke about his inclusion on the portal in the British newspaper The Times as early as 2022: “People listed on Myrotvorets can end up dead. There is a threat, a risk, that is, falling out of a window or having to flee the country. I am aware of this threat, but I live with the risk.”
After Schröder’s inclusion, the German government called on Kyiv to shut down the portal, and several human rights organizations have repeatedly called for its closure. “It’s a very dangerous list that should be closed immediately. People on it have been killed. Tensions are already very high. It’s an explosive situation, and a list like this only increases the dangers,” said Yulia Gorbunova, senior Ukraine researcher at Human Rights Watch.
