Russian authorities have detained two suspects in connection with the attempted assassination of a senior military intelligence general in Moscow, including the suspected gunman, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said. It added that the suspected killer was detained in Dubai with the help of United Arab Emirates authorities.

On Friday, Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, first deputy head of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), was shot three times in the back outside his residence and taken to hospital.

In a statement on Sunday, the FSB said the suspected gunman – identified as 65-year-old Russian citizen Lyubomir Korba – was detained in Dubai with the help of United Arab Emirates authorities and handed over to Russia.

Russia's Investigative Committee later said that Korba - who was born in western Ukraine - arrived in Moscow in late December last year with instructions from Ukrainian security services to carry out "a terrorist attack".

The FSB added that it identified suspected accomplices in the attack, including Russian citizen Viktor Vasin, 66, who was detained in Moscow, and Zinaida Serebritskaya, 54, who said she fled to Ukraine.