Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of Russia's vast GRU military intelligence service, was shot three times on Friday in an apartment block in northern Moscow, according to investigators.

Alexeyev, 64, was rushed to hospital and underwent surgery. The Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement that a Russian citizen named Lyubomir Korba was detained in Dubai on suspicion of carrying out the shooting.

The FSB had also identified two accomplices, also Russian citizens. One was detained in Moscow, while another escaped to Ukraine.