Russia announces arrest of suspect in assassination attempt on General Alekseyev

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation announced the arrest of a suspect in the attempted assassination of Vladimir Alekseev, first deputy chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. This was announced on 8 February by the agency's representative Svetlana Petrenko, according to DW.

According to investigators, the suspect is 65-year-old Lyubomir Korba, a native of the Ternopil region of the former Ukrainian SSR, who now has Russian citizenship. The Investigative Committee claims that he arrived in Moscow at the end of last year, allegedly on behalf of the Ukrainian special services to prepare a terrorist attack. During an inspection of the scene, Russian investigators say they found a Makarov pistol with a silencer and three rounds of ammunition.

The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow chose to remand Korba in custody as a preventive measure. At the same time, the FSB stated that the suspect was detained in the United Arab Emirates and then brought to Moscow. The FSB also reported that possible accomplices had been identified. These are Russian citizen Viktor Vasin, who was detained in Moscow, and Zinaida Serebryatskaya, who, according to Russian security forces, left for Ukraine.

The FSB released a video showing the suspect being brought to Russia, as well as CCTV footage from near Alexeyev's home showing weapons hidden in the snow being discovered. The suspect's face is not shown in the video.

The assassination attempt on 64-year-old Vladimir Alexeyev took place on 6 February in Moscow. According to Russian law enforcement officials, an unidentified person fired several shots at the man and fled the scene. Alexeyev was hospitalised, and Russian media later reported that he had undergone surgery and regained consciousness.

The Kremlin immediately blamed Ukraine for the assassination attempt. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the incident was allegedly an attempt to disrupt the negotiation process. Alexeyev is known to be the first deputy head of the GRU, Igor Kostyukov, who heads the Russian delegation at the negotiations in Abu Dhabi.

At the same time, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence previously stated that Alekseyev was responsible for preparing data for missile and air strikes on Ukraine and organising so-called referendums in the occupied territories. The general is under sanctions from the United States and the European Union. In particular, he has been on the US sanctions list since 2016 for cyberattacks, and in 2019 he was sanctioned by the EU in the case of the poisoning of Sergei Skripal.