MOSCOW ACCUSES UKRAINE AS RUSSIA IDENTIFIES SUSPECTS IN GENERAL’s SHOOTING

Russian authorities said they have identified three people allegedly involved in the attempted assassination of a senior military intelligence officer, Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev, in Moscow.

According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, the primary suspect is Lyubomir Korba, a Ukrainian-born Russian citizen accused of carrying out the shooting. Investigators claim Korba arrived in Moscow in late December after receiving instructions from Ukrainian intelligence services to carry out what they described as a “terrorist attack.” Ukrainian officials have denied any involvement.

Alexeyev, 64, was wounded in the attack on Friday outside a residential apartment block in northwestern Moscow. He was rushed to hospital and has since regained consciousness following surgery, Russian media reported.

Alexeyev serves as the deputy head of Russia’s Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU) and is the latest high-ranking military figure to be targeted in or around Moscow since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said the attacker fired three shots before escaping the scene. Authorities alleged that Korba fled to the United Arab Emirates just hours after the shooting, where he was later detained and extradited back to Russia.

State broadcaster Ru-24 aired footage showing security officers escorting Korba from an aircraft at an undisclosed location.

Petrenko said investigators recovered the suspected weapon at the scene; a Makarov pistol fitted with a silencer along with three rounds of ammunition. Forensic examinations are ongoing.

Russian media reports said President Vladimir Putin personally thanked UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for assisting in Korba’s arrest, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, quoted by Reuters, rejected Moscow’s accusations, saying Kyiv had no connection to the incident and suggesting it was an internal Russian matter.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, accused Ukraine of orchestrating the attack to derail negotiations aimed at ending the war. Alexeyev’s superior, GRU chief Adm Igor Kostyukov, has recently led Russia’s delegation at trilateral talks involving Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi.

Authorities say Korba may not have acted alone. A Moscow resident identified as Viktor Vasin has been arrested and charged as an accomplice. Investigators also named a third suspect, Zinaida Serebritskaya, who is believed to have fled to Ukraine. Officials did not provide further details about her alleged role.

Ukraine has previously acknowledged responsibility for some attacks targeting Russian military figures. Last month, Russian intelligence claimed it had foiled an assassination attempt against a soldier in St Petersburg.

In January, an Uzbek national was sentenced over the 2024 killing of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, who died in a bomb explosion outside a Moscow apartment building. Ukrainian security sources later said Kyiv’s SBU intelligence service had been behind the operation. Kirillov headed Russia’s nuclear, biological, and chemical protection forces.

Another senior GRU officer, Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov, was killed in December 2025 when an explosive device detonated beneath his vehicle in Moscow. He oversaw operational training within the armed forces, according to Russian investigators.