Suspect in shooting of senior Russian general has been detained, Russia says

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Federal Security Service said Sunday that the man suspected of shooting a deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency in Moscow was detained in Dubai and handed over to Russia.

Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was hospitalized after being shot several times Friday by an assailant at an apartment building in northwestern Moscow, Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said. The attack followed a series of assassinations of senior military officers that Russia has blamed on Ukraine.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said a Russian citizen, Lyubomir Korba, was detained in Dubai on suspicion of carrying out the shooting. In a statement on its website, FSB said it had also identified two “accomplices,” one of whom was detained in Moscow and another who “left for Ukraine.”

Asked about the shooting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday it would be up to law enforcement agencies to pursue the investigation but described it as an apparent “terrorist act” by Ukraine intended to derail peace talks.

There was no immediate response from Kyiv to a request for comment on the Russian allegations.

The shooting came a day after Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators wrapped up two days of talks in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, aimed at ending the nearly 4-year-old conflict in Ukraine. The Russian delegation was led by Alekseyev’s boss, military intelligence chief Adm. Igor Kostyukov.

Alekseyev, 64, has served as the first deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency, known as the GRU, since 2011.

He was decorated with the Hero of Russia medal for his role in Moscow’s military campaign in Syria. In June 2023, he was shown on state TV speaking to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, when his Wagner Group seized the military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don during his short-lived mutiny.

Since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for several assassinations of military officers and public figures in Russia. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of them.

In December, a car bomb killed Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff.

In April, another senior Russian military officer, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff, was killed by a bomb placed in his car parked near his apartment building just outside Moscow.

A Russian man who previously lived in Ukraine pleaded guilty to carrying out the attack and said he had been paid by Ukraine’s security services.

Days after Moskalik’s killing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he received a report from the head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence agency on the “liquidation” of top Russian military figures, adding that “justice inevitably comes” although he didn’t mention Moskalik’s name.

In December 2024, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building. Kirillov’s assistant also died. Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for the attack.

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev speaks to servicemen in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

A view of the apartment building where deputy chief of Russian military intelligence Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was shot and wounded, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)

Investigators leave an apartment building where deputy chief of Russian military intelligence Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was shot and wounded, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev speaks to servicemen in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The remarkable return of Lindsey Vonn reached a key moment Sunday at the Winter Games, where the 41-year-old American was racing in the women's downhill on a badly injured left knee with hopes of her first Olympic gold medal since 2010.

Vonn was scheduled to be the 13th skier on the iconic Olympia delle Tofana course on a sunny day in Cortina below the jagged peaks of the Dolomites, a place where she has a record 12 World Cup wins and many treasured memories.

All eyes were on Vonn, the feel-good story heading into the Olympics. She returned to elite ski racing last season after nearly six years away from the circuit. On a partial titanium knee replacement in her right knee, too. Her surgery in April 2024 left her feeling so good that she decided to give it a go for another Olympics appearance.

The four-time overall World Cup champion stunned everyone by being a contender almost immediately. She is leading the World Cup downhill standings and was agold-medal favorite before her crash in Switzerland last week when she suffered her latest knee injury. In addition to a ruptured ACL, she also had a bone bruise and meniscus damage.

It didn't deter her, though, with Vonn saying on Instagram: “Know that the odds are stacked against me with my age, no ACL, and a titanium knee- but know that I still believe.” Nine days later, she was back at the top of the Tofana course, ready to go.

Vonn won the downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games, the only female from the U.S. to win the discipline at the Olympics.

The Tofana is a course that's always suited Vonn and she tested out the knee twice in downill training runs over the past three days.

“This would be the best comeback I’ve done so far,” Vonn said. “Definitely the most dramatic.”

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Graham reported from Bormio, Italy.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

United States' Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's downhill official training, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

United States' Lindsey Vonn races in an alpine ski women's downhill training, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

United States' Lindsey Vonn's aunt Lisa Krohn, right, is seen at the finish area of an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

United States' Lindsey Vonn concentrates ahead of an alpine ski, women's downhill official training, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)