A Russian citizen has been detained in Dubai over the shooting of a general in Moscow.
The Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB secret police, said in a statement that a Russian citizen named Lyubomir Korba was arrested on suspicion of shooting Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev on Friday.
“With the assistance of partners from the United Arab Emirates… [he] was detained in Dubai and handed over to the Russian side,” the security service said. Korba has since been flown back to Russia, according to security officials.
Lt Gen Alexeyev was shot three times with a Makarov pistol equipped with a silencer in an apartment block on the Volokolamsk highway in northern Moscow, according to investigators. The perpetrator then fled the scene.
The 64-year-old was rushed to hospital and underwent surgery, Russian media said.
Russian investigators have accused Ukraine of planning the shooting, but Kyiv has denied involvement.
Investigators said Korba, born in the Ternopil region of Soviet Ukraine in 1960, was tasked by Ukrainian intelligence to carry out the shooting.
A view of the apartment building where Lt Gen Alexeyev was shot and wounded. Pic: AP
The FSB said it had identified two accomplices, also Russian citizens.
One, Viktor Vasin, was detained in Moscow, while another, Zinaida Serebritskaya, escaped to Ukraine. Sky News was unable to immediately verify the details of the suspects.
The UAE did not give any details about how Korba was detained.
Vladimir Putin called the UAE leader, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, after the detention of Korba and thanked him for his country’s help in the operation, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Meanwhile, Russia launched an attack on several Ukrainian regions overnight.
Ukraine’s air force said 101 attack drones were fired towards the country, with the force repelling the majority.
A damaged apartment building is seen in a residential neighbourhood following Russian strikes in the Donetsk region. Pic: AP
Apartments in the Donetsk region and nearby cars caught fire after a drone strike. One person died, and two others have been injured.
The overnight attack came almost 24 hours after Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
More than 400 drones and 40 missiles were fired in that attack as the harshest winter in the near four-year war grips Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced new sanctions in response to the strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Read more:
Mystery as Russian general shot at close range
Russian drone strike on bus in Ukraine kills 12
“Producing this weaponry would be impossible without critical foreign components, which the Russians continue to obtain by circumventing sanctions,” the Ukrainian leader wrote in a social media post.
“We are introducing new sanctions precisely against such companies – component suppliers, as well as missile and drone manufacturers. I have signed the relevant decisions.”
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