The FSB, Russia’s powerful security service, on Monday blamed its Ukrainian counterpart of orchestrating the shooting of a senior military intelligence agency official after it said it had detained a suspect in the attack.
The man they suspect carried out the shooting, named as Russian citizen Lyubomir Korba, was detained in Dubai, the FSB said in a statement. He was handed over to Russia with the “assistance of partners from the United Arab Emirates,” it said on Sunday.
Two accomplices have also been identified in the case, the FSB said.
Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was shot several times in his home in the northwest of the capital, Russia’s Investigative Committee said Friday. The shooting is the latest in a spate of attacks on senior military figures inside Russia, many of which have been blamed on Ukraine.
Alekseyev was hospitalized after the attack, but there has been no official update on his condition since Friday.
One of Korba’s alleged accomplices was detained in Moscow, the other left for Ukraine, the FSB said. Both were identified as Russian citizens.
The agency released more details Monday saying both Korba and one of the alleged accomplices have admitted guilt and that the shooting was committed on “the instructions of the Security Service of Ukraine,” better known as the SBU.
There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv Monday to the FSB’s allegations.
In a statement, the FSB alleged that Korba was recruited, trained and sent to Russia by the SBU in August 2025. It also alleged that had Korba conducted surveillance of high-ranking Russian military personnel in the Moscow region, and obtained a gun, planted by the SBU, and an electronic key to the entrance door of the apartment building where Alekseyev lived from one of the accomplices.
On the day of the attack, Korba entered the building entrance, waited for the general to appear near the elevator and fired four shots, the statement said. He then fled to the United Arab Emirates, but was detained at Russia’s request, it added. The agency also alleged that one of Korba’s accomplices was a supporter of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Russian state news agency Tass shared two videos Monday, provided by the FSB, showing Korba and one of the accomplices admitting to the crime. It’s not clear if they spoke under duress.
On Sunday, it also shared surveillance footage from in and around the building where Alekseyev was shot and the footage of Korba being taken off a plane in a blindfold and handcuffs, and put into a car by the FSB agents.
NBC News has reached out to the SBU for comment.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Reuters on Friday that Ukraine had nothing to do with Alexeyev’s shooting.
Alekseyev, 64, played a prominent role during the mutiny by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in the summer of 2023. He was sanctioned by the European Union in 2019 in connection with the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England with the nerve agent Novichok.
Daryna Mayer and Reuters contributed.