The Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on 10/2 that Pavel Vasin, 44, son of Viktor Vasin, had been arrested. Viktor, an accomplice of the main suspect Lyubomir Korba, was arrested in Moskva shortly after intelligence general Vladimir Alekseyev was shot on 6/2.
Pavel is accused of providing his father and Korba with "the means used to track the target and retrieve weapons from a secret cache". In an FSB interrogation video, Pavel stated that Korba had recruited him in 9/2025 on behalf of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
"I carried out tasks assigned by Korba related to equipment and drove him wherever he requested", Pavel said.
According to the FSB, Pavel was tracking two other senior military officers in preparation for potential assassination plots. Meanwhile, Vasin's father is accused of renting an apartment for Korba and providing him with a public transport travel card.
 |
Pavel Vasin, a suspect arrested after the attempted assassination of intelligence general Vladimir Alekseyev. Photo: FSB |
The FSB previously claimed Pavel held Polish citizenship and had "colluded with Polish intelligence" to involve his father in the plot. Warsaw denied the accusation, calling it "a typical disinformation trick".
Lieutenant general Alekseyev was hospitalized after being shot three times at an apartment building in Moskva. He underwent surgery in the hospital, is out of critical condition, conscious, and able to converse, but his condition remains serious.
The main suspect, Korba, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates and extradited to Russia on 7/2. The other suspect, Zinaida Serebritskaya, who lived in the same apartment complex as general Alekseyev, has fled to Ukraine. Russian police have issued an arrest warrant for her.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the assassination attempt as a "terrorist act" carried out by Ukraine to disrupt peace talks. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha denied the accusation, stating that the attack was a result of "internal Russian conflicts".
By Huyen Le (Reuters, Moscow Times)
