Ukrainian killers arrested in Alicante following manhunt

A UKRAINIAN couple have been apprehended in Alicante following a joint operation between the Guardia Civil and the National Central Bureau of Interpol.

The pair are suspected of killing a pharmaceutical company director in his native country in August 2015, and Ukrainian authorities have been searching for him since.

Both detainees allegedly acted as intermediaries in the purchase of land for the victim, and attacked him during a meeting in which a large sum of money was due to be exchanged, dealing him several blows to the head with a hammer and producing multiple skull fractures that lead to his death.

The corpse was then taken to the town of Kyselivka, in Chernihiv region, where it was dumped into the River Zamhlay.

The cadaver washed up on the river’s banks several days later, and the couple decided to flee the country after the story appeared in national media.

Ukrainian authorities thus issued an international arrest warrant, and, suspecting that the couple had headed for Spain, alerted the Central Operating Unit of the Guardia Civil, who launched an immediate investigation.

The fugitives were eventually tracked down and arrested in the town of El Campello in Alicante, where they had rented a house, while €21,000 in cash were also seized.

Extradition proceedings are expected to begin shortly.