Russia's FSB security service said Monday that the men arrested for the attempted assassination of senior military intelligence officer Vladimir Alexeyev in Moscow last week have admitted they were carrying out orders from Ukraine's SBU security service.
Alexeyev, a lieutenant general who serves as first deputy head of Russia's GRU military intelligence service, was hospitalized after being shot several times at an apartment in Moscow on Friday morning. He is conscious but remains in critical condition, state media reported.
The FSB said the suspected shooter, identified as a Ukrainian-born Russian citizen named Lyubomir Korba, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates this weekend and extradited to Russia. A suspected accomplice, named Viktor Vasin, was arrested in Moscow.
According to the Russian security service, both men confessed to being recruited by Ukraine in August 2025 and "underwent marksmanship training at a firing range in Kyiv." Korba was allegedly promised $30,000 to kill Alexeyev.
The FSB also claimed that Korba's son, a Polish citizen said to be living in the city of Katowice in southern Poland, was "involved in his recruitment with the assistance of Polish intelligence services."
Polish officials did not immediately respond to the allegation.
The apparent assassination attempt is just the latest in a string of attacks inside Russia targeting senior military officials. Since December 2024, three generals have been killed in or near Moscow, with the most recent killing having taken place late last year.
No one has claimed responsibility for the shooting of Alexeyev, but Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has dismissed allegations that Kyiv was involved and suggested the incident was the result of "internal Russian infighting."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of orchestrating the attack in an effort to derail ongoing talks to end the war.
The latest shooting of a Russian general has raised questions about how the military protects some of its key personnel, with pro-war figures criticizing the country's security services for failing to thwart such attacks.
Alexeyev, who was born in Soviet Ukraine’s Vinnytsia region, began his career in the Spetsnaz special forces. He was placed in charge of intelligence operations in Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin sidelined the FSB security service in the early months of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
In 2023, the general was among a group of senior military officers involved in negotiations with Yevgeny Prigozhin when he and fighters from his private military company Wagner staged an armed mutiny against the Defense Ministry over fierce disagreements about how the Ukraine war was being managed.
Before the full-scale invasion, Alexeyev was responsible for coordinating military campaigns in eastern Ukraine and Syria in the mid-2010s. He has served as first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, an intelligence agency that reports to the defense minister and the chief of the General Staff, since 2011.
The United States sanctioned the general for alleged cyber operations targeting the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The European Union sanctioned him for the 2018 poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Scribal and his daughter Yulia in the United Kingdom.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
