FM Sybiha denies Ukrainian involvement in attempted assassination of Gen Alekseev

Two Russian citizens, Lyubomyr Korba and Viktor Vasin, were detained in Moscow on Sunday on suspicion of an attempt on the life of the First Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev, and have already stated that they allegedly acted on behalf of the Ukrainian side, Russian media reported, citing their own sources in the law enforcement agencies of the aggressor state.

"Russian citizens Korba Lyubomyr, born in 1960, and Vasin Viktor, born in 1959, who were detained by officers of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, pleaded guilty and reported on the circumstances of the preparation of the attempt… committed on behalf of the Security Service of Ukraine," the report said.

Russia claims that Korba, the direct perpetrator of the assassination attempt on Alekseev, was allegedly recruited by an SBU officer in August 2025 in Ternopil, underwent rifle training and was thrown into the Russian Federation in August of the same year through Moldova and Georgia. His accomplice Vasin allegedly rented him an apartment for clandestine residence and provided Korba with public transport tickets, based on ideological considerations, because he "is a supporter of the International Anti-Corruption Foundation, recognized as a terrorist organization" in the Russian Federation.

Investigative journalist Khristo Grozev of the international group Bellingcat wrote in X that Korba is a native of Ukraine and was detained in Dubai (UAE), and Vasin works for an FSB company that produces surveillance equipment.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha told Reuters that Ukraine had nothing to do with the assassination attempt on Alekseev. "We don’t know what happened to this particular general - maybe it was their internal Russian showdown," he said. As reported, the attempt on General Alekseev occurred last Friday: he was shot several times and was hospitalized in critical condition.