Russia’s security services have said a suspect in the shooting of a senior military intelligence officer has been arrested abroad and handed over to Moscow, as investigators probe what they describe as a targeted attack amid heightened tensions linked to the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Sunday that a man suspected of shooting senior Russian military intelligence officer Vladimir Alexeyev in Moscow has been detained in Dubai and handed over to Russian authorities.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, the deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency GRU, was shot multiple times in an apartment building in Moscow on Friday, investigators said. Russian media reported that he underwent surgery following the attack and was hospitalised.
The FSB identified the suspect as a Russian citizen, Lyubomir Korba, who was detained in Dubai after fleeing Russia. A suspected accomplice was arrested in Moscow, while another individual is believed to have escaped to Ukraine, according to Russian media citing the security service.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt, alleging it was aimed at undermining peace talks. Ukraine denied any involvement in the shooting.
Alexeyev’s superior, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, head of the GRU, has been leading Russia’s delegation in negotiations with Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on security-related elements of a potential peace agreement.
Several senior Russian military officials have been assassinated in Russia and Moscow-controlled parts of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Alexeyev is under Western sanctions for his alleged role in cyberattacks and the organisation of a nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Britain in 2018.
While Kyiv has previously claimed responsibility for the killing of some high-ranking Russian officials since the start of the war, it has not commented on this case.
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