MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials said Sunday that a man suspected of shooting the deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency in Moscow was detained in Dubai and extradited to Russia, and they accused him of working on behalf of Ukraine.
Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev was hospitalized on Friday after being shot multiple times by an assailant at an apartment building in northwestern Moscow. The attack follows a series of killings of senior military officers, which Russia has blamed on Ukraine.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) said a Russian national, Lyubomir Korba, was detained in Dubai on suspicion of carrying out the shootings. In a statement on its website, the FSB said it had also identified two “accomplices”, one of whom was detained in Moscow and the other “flew to Ukraine.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Telegram on Sunday that Korba had arrived in Moscow in December “on the instructions of Ukrainian intelligence services to carry out a terrorist attack.”
Asked about the shooting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that it would be up to law enforcement agencies to pursue the investigation, but he called it a clear “terrorist act” committed by Ukraine with the intention of derailing peace talks.
There was no immediate response from Kiev to a request for comment on the Russian allegations.
The shooting came a day after Russian, Ukrainian and American negotiators concluded two days of talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, aimed at ending the nearly 4-year-old conflict in Ukraine. The Russian delegation was led by Alekseyev’s boss, military intelligence chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov.
Alekseyev, 64, has served as first deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency, known as the GRU, since 2011.
He was awarded the Hero of Russia medal for his role in Moscow’s military campaign in Syria. In June 2023, he was shown on state TV talking to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin after his Wagner group captured the military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don during their short-lived rebellion.
Since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in 2022, Russian officials have blamed Kiev for several assassinations of military officials and public figures in Russia. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of them.
