Translated material
Four shots
Who is behind the assassination attempt on General Alekseev?
General Vladimir Alekseev is in serious condition after an attempt on his life, and the FSB said it had detained the main suspect, Lyubomir Korba, a 65-year-old Russian citizen. He was extradited from Dubai. Two more Russian citizens are also involved in the case: 66-year-old Viktor Vasin and 54-year-old Zinaida Serebritskaya. The FSB said that Vasin was detained in Moscow, and Serebritskaya “went to Ukraine.” The FSB claims that Korba and Vasin admitted guilt. According to the intelligence service, Korba was a executor; he was allegedly recruited in Ternopil in 2025 through his son, a Polish citizen. Vasin acted as an accomplice. Zinaida Serebritskaya rented an apartment in the building where Alekseev lived and gave the key to the entrance to Korba.
Investigator Hristo Grozev writes that Viktor Vasin worked for the FSB-controlled Atlas company, which develops surveillance tools. In addition, Viktor Vasin appeared on lists of Navalny’s supporters that were leaked online.
The main version of the FSB remains the Ukrainian trace. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiga rejected these accusations and said that Kyiv was not involved in the assassination attempt on Alekseev. Western officials also doubt this, The Washington Post reported.
In versions of the assassination attempt, we will deal with investigative journalist Denis Korotkov and military expert Yuri Fedorov .
According to The Washington Post, Western intelligence agencies doubt that Ukraine was involved in the assassination attempt on GRU deputy chief Vladimir Alekseev. The publication refers to former and current intelligence officers. They believe that attacking a senior Russian military officer amid peace talks would be “madness” on the part of Ukraine, as it could anger US President Donald Trump and lead to the breakdown of the process.
Who is behind the assassination attempt on General Alekseev?
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Who could be behind the assassination attempt on General Vladimir Alekseev, argues Denis Korotkov, a journalist at the Dossier center:
It is known that the administrative management and financing of most volunteer units passes through the GRU, this can be considered established
– Viktor Vasin, who was detained in the case of the assassination attempt on General Alekseev, is a retired military man. At the Atlas Scientific and Technical Center, he held the position of leading specialist in civil defense and emergency situations. This is the person who is responsible for the fire extinguishers, making sure doors open the correct way, and making sure employees sign the safety log. All. This is a boring clerical, low-paying job, which is often applied for by retired military or police officers. This position does not imply access to any secrets.
As for the list of people with whom General Alekseev spoke on the phone - he was the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Army and communicated with those people with whom he was supposed to communicate due to the nature of his service. There are both regular military personnel and representatives of private military formations. It is known that the administrative management and financing of most volunteer units passes through the GRU; this can be considered established. Therefore, he constantly contacted people from these structures. At one time, General Alekseev, of course, also contacted Dmitry Valerievich Utkin, the same “Wagner”.
Undoubtedly, Alekseev has many enemies, because he is a big boss and a person who is responsible for the murder of many people
Undoubtedly, Alekseev has many enemies, because he is a big boss and a person who is responsible for the murder of many people, both in open battle and as a result of all kinds of villainous actions. I don’t know who exactly benefits from his death. I have already seen versions that the Wagnerites tried to do this, offended by the death of their great leader and beloved commander, Mr. Prigozhin. This version seems so unlikely to me that I would be very surprised if it really is true. The former Wagnerites simply do not have enough resources to organize a liquidation of this scale and cost.
There remains another version with an internal struggle in the security forces. The GRU is an organization that primarily deals with intelligence. All its leaders in recent years have come from strategic intelligence. They all graduated from the corresponding academy, worked in military-diplomatic and analytical work, and, apparently, were not very close to blowing up or killing someone. But General Alekseev came to the GRU from special forces. He graduated from the Ryazan Airborne Command School, then was the head of intelligence in military districts, and was engaged in special reconnaissance and sabotage in the central apparatus of the GRU.
Therefore, it is very difficult to assume that someone inside the GRU or the Ministry of Defense tried to kill him in this way, because the first person who does this is himself and his subordinates. He loves them, promotes them, advocates for them. They must really like him. As for all kinds of competing intelligence services, the only intelligence agency that is capable of such actions in Russia is the FSB. But I can’t quite understand why this would be necessary, because I can’t predict their logic,” said journalist Denis Korotkov.
The Insider has found out that since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine, at least 19 Russian generals have died. Calculations are based on open data from Russian and Ukrainian sources. Journalists clarify that the Russian Ministry of Defense has not officially confirmed all of these deaths.
How the death of high-ranking Russian generals affects the course of the war, and who could be behind the assassination attempt on General Alekseev in Moscow, says military analyst Yuri Fedorov :
I think that these liquidations rather have a psychological effect. They must keep the Russian military command on its toes
– Much depends on the personality of the general. If we talk about Igor Kirillov, who was killed in December 2024, his department took almost no direct part in the hostilities. There was information that Russian troops were using so-called irritants in the war. These are legal poisons, although in some cases they are quite cruel. If a grenade containing this tear gas hits a bunker, people can die from shock or simply suffocate. As for the death of Lieutenant General Yaroslav Maskalik, he really played a fairly serious role in the military command and control of the troops.
Moskalik was the deputy chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, held quite serious information in his hands, and could play a significant role in management and making specific decisions. It was quite difficult to replace him, although he had subordinates with whom he worked, so within a month or two the decrease in the quality of management after his liquidation was compensated. I think that these liquidations rather have a psychological effect. They must keep the Russian military commanders on their toes and convince these generals that if they overdo it and actually become involved in war crimes, then their fate may be quite sad.
He was also quite deeply involved in Russian operations in Africa. Someone’s criminal and economic interests could very well be affected there
General Vladimir Alekseev is quite difficult to replace. The point is not only that he oversaw these mercenary formations like the Wagner PMC. He was also quite deeply involved in Russian operations in Africa. And this is an extremely delicate area, because the so-called African Corps is a kind of successor to the Wagner group; it operates in areas where drug trafficking channels run between North and Tropical Africa. In addition, large quantities of gold and other precious metals, as well as valuable types of wood, are mined there.
That is, someone’s criminal and economic interests could well have been affected there. It is possible that he could be involved in these schemes and know too much about who else is involved in them. He could also know a lot about sabotage operations of Russian military intelligence and other hybrid operations in Europe. This was also his area of responsibility. Therefore, the version that they tried to liquidate him because he knew too much cannot be ruled out, Yuri Fedorov is sure.