Russia’s Investigative Committee (SK) said the alleged gunman has been identified as Lyubomir Korba, a Russian citizen. According to investigators, Korba arrived in Moscow in late December “on assignment from Ukrainian intelligence services to commit a terrorist attack”. Ukraine has denied any involvement.
Alexeyev, 64, the deputy head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU), was shot in a residential building in the north-western outskirts of the Russian capital. He was taken to hospital and underwent surgery. Russian media report that he has since regained consciousness.
SK spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said the attacker fired three shots before fleeing the scene. Investigators allege that Korba travelled to the United Arab Emirates just hours after the shooting, where he was later arrested and extradited to Russia. Russian state television aired footage showing security officers escorting Korba from an aircraft at an undisclosed location.
During a search at the scene, investigators said they recovered a Makarov pistol fitted with a silencer and three rounds of ammunition. Forensic examinations are under way.
Russian authorities say Korba acted with at least one accomplice. A man identified as Viktor Vasin has been arrested in Moscow and charged in connection with the case. A woman named by investigators as Zinaida Serebritskaya is also suspected of involvement but is believed to have fled to Ukraine. No further details were provided.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, quoted by Reuters, said Kyiv had nothing to do with the shooting, describing it as an internal Russian matter. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack in an attempt to undermine negotiations aimed at ending the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Alexeyev is the latest high-ranking Russian military figure to be targeted in or around Moscow since the start of the war. His superior, GRU chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov, has been leading the Russian delegation in recent trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States held in Abu Dhabi.
In recent years, several senior Russian officers have been attacked or killed in incidents Moscow has blamed on Ukraine or its intelligence services. In January, an Uzbek national was sentenced to prison for the 2024 killing of General Igor Kirillov in a bombing outside a Moscow apartment block, an attack Ukrainian intelligence sources later claimed responsibility for. Another GRU lieutenant general, Fanil Sarvarov, was killed in December 2025 when an explosive device detonated under a car in Moscow, according to Russian investigators.
