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The head of Russian military intelligence, who had oversaw the hacking of the Democratic Party's computers during the presidential election in the United States in 2016, died Wednesday following a long illness, reported Russian state news agencies.
Colonel General Igor V. Korobov, 63, had not been seen in public for months and was notably absent from the ceremony on 2 November marking the 100th anniversary of the known military intelligence agency. under the name of GRU Historically a secret agency and poorly understood, the G.R.U. under General Korobov became the main tool of global disorganization of Russia.
Mr. Korobov was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for publishing stolen e-mails to the Democratic Party in support of Donald Trump's campaign in 2016.
Under his guidance, G.R.U. He was also involved in the theft and publication of documents belonging to Emmanuel Macron's presidential campaign in France, hacking the global anti-doping and poisoning device of a former Georgia agent. officer, Sergei V. Skripal, with a very powerful neurotoxic agent in Britain earlier this year.
G.R.U. The agents also play a key role in the wars in Ukraine and Syria.
These operations have demonstrated Russia's ability to project its limited power well beyond its borders and to remain a relevant international player with which the West still has difficulty counting.
General Korobov has been appointed head of G.R.U. by President Vladimir V. Putin in January 2016, after the sudden death of his predecessor, Igor D. Sergun. But the general's absence in recent months has fueled rumors of an impending reshuffle of power within the agency.
Russian news agencies cited a statement by the Defense Ministry that described the general as a "true son of Russia, a Patriot of the Fatherland". And at the anniversary ceremony of the GRU this month, Mr. Putin congratulated the agency for its "unique abilities. "
Although General Korobov is one of the most senior officers in the Russian army, very little is known about him. According to his scant biography on the website of the Ministry of Defense, he joined the armed forces in 1973 and joined G.R.U. in 1985.
Despite recent remarks by Putin, the G.R.U. has had its share of missteps lately. Only a few weeks after the British authorities published photographs and pseudonyms of two official journalists suspected of poisoning Mr. Skripal in England in March, researchers from the Bellingcat investigative group were able to discover the true identities and travel routes of agents using primarily publicly available information.
In October, officials in the Netherlands revealed details of a failed attempt by four agents of the agency to hack computers from the world's chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague. The agents were carrying computers with previous mission details as well as a taxi receipt from the airport stating that they had been recovered outside of a plane from the Grande -Britain. headquarters building in Moscow.
Nevertheless, the agency's activities put Russia's opponents in the vanguard and provoked a strong reaction from the West. Russia has been hit by waves of sanctions following its electoral interference. After the poisoning of Mr. Skripal, Britain and many allies expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats, many of whom would be secret intelligence agents.
