Russian Authorities Say Third Person Held Over Attack On Top Military Intelligence Officer

"Russian authorities said they detained a third person in connection with the shooting of a top military intelligence general in a Moscow apartment building. The Federal Security Service said in a statement on February 8 that the person -- a Russian citizen -- was detained in Dubai, and flown to Moscow. The agency, known as the FSB, said it had identified two other Russian citizens in the shooting: one had been detained in Moscow; the other allegedly traveled to Ukraine."

"As the GRU's deputy commander, Alekseyev has overseen -- or been implicated in -- multiple, often audacious sabotage or assassination operations around the world. Among other things, he's been accused of involvement in the near-fatal 2018 Novichok poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Britain, and the cyberhack of US political parties two years earlier. He's also been linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a St. Petersburg restaurateur who co-founded Russia's most notorious mercenary company, Wagner Group."

Russian authorities detained a third person in Dubai and flew him to Moscow in connection with the shooting of Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev. The FSB identified two other Russian citizens in the shooting; one detained in Moscow and another who allegedly traveled to Ukraine. Alekseyev, the GRU's deputy commander, was reportedly shot three times in the stairwell of his Moscow apartment building on February 6 and later underwent emergency surgery for a gunshot wound to a vital organ; officials said he was expected to recover. The FSB released surveillance video purportedly showing the shooter, who may have posed as a food delivery courier. Investigators released few details and Russian officials blamed Kyiv without providing evidence.

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