Russia Identifies Suspects in Shooting of Senior General

Russian authorities say they have identified three suspects in connection with the shooting of a senior military intelligence official, Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev, as investigators push ahead with what they describe as a rapid and coordinated response to the high-profile attack.

The Russian Investigations Committee (SK) said the alleged gunman has been named as Lyubomir Korba, a Ukrainian-born Russian citizen. According to investigators, Korba arrived in Moscow in late December on what they claim was an assignment from Ukrainian intelligence services to carry out what they have described as a “terrorist attack.” Ukrainian officials have reportedly denied any involvement in the incident.

Lt Gen Alexeyev, 64, who serves as the deputy head of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency, was shot on Friday in a residential apartment block in the north-western outskirts of Moscow. Russian media reports say he was taken to hospital in a serious condition but has since regained consciousness following surgery, a development that officials and commentators have highlighted as an encouraging sign.

The SK’s spokeswoman, Svetlana Petrenko, said investigators believe the attacker fired three shots before fleeing the scene. Korba is alleged to have travelled to the United Arab Emirates within hours of the shooting, where he was later detained. Russian authorities say he has since been extradited back to Russia, underlining what they describe as effective international cooperation.

Russian state television channel Ru-24 broadcast footage showing security agents escorting Korba from an aircraft at an undisclosed location, as officials sought to demonstrate progress in the case. Petrenko said forensic teams carried out a detailed examination of the crime scene, during which they recovered the alleged weapon — a Makarov pistol fitted with a silencer, along with three rounds of ammunition. She added that forensic tests are now being conducted on the firearm.

According to the Investigations Committee, Korba did not act alone. A second suspect, Viktor Vasin, has been arrested in Moscow and formally charged in connection with the attack. Authorities also believe a third person, identified as Zinaida Serebritskaya, may have been involved. She is reported to have left Russia for Ukraine, although investigators have not publicly detailed the nature of her alleged role.

The case has drawn attention at the highest levels of government. Russian media, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, reported that President Vladimir Putin personally thanked UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Saturday for his country’s assistance in detaining and extraditing Korba. The gesture was portrayed as a sign of strengthening security cooperation between Moscow and Abu Dhabi.

Lt Gen Alexeyev is the latest in a series of senior Russian military figures to be targeted in or near Moscow since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine has, in the past, publicly acknowledged responsibility for some attacks on Russian military officials, while in other cases it has remained silent or denied involvement.

In a separate recent incident, Russian intelligence officials said they thwarted an attempted attack on a Russian soldier in St Petersburg late last month. Earlier this year, an Uzbek man was sentenced to prison for the 2024 killing of another senior officer, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, who died in an explosion outside an apartment block in Moscow. At the time, sources within Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service claimed responsibility for that attack.