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The head of the Russian military intelligence agency linked to a series of notorious operations abroad has died as a result of a long illness, said Thursday the Ministry of Defense.
Igor Korobov, 62, has been head of the Intelligence Bureau (GRU) since 2016 and was the target of US sanctions.
He died Wednesday following a "long and serious illness," the ministry said in a statement issued by Russian news agencies.
"The dear memory of this great man, faithful and patriotic Russian son of the Fatherland, will forever be engraved in our hearts," the ministry said.
His successor has not been announced yet.
The West has accused the powerful body of several attacks on foreign lands, including the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a nerve agent in Britain last March .
Washington said the GRU was directly involved in the US elections in 2016 through "cyberactive activities" and that the Treasury Department had included Korobov on a sanctions list.
Korobov did not attend the centenary service gala in early November when Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the GRU.
The first deputy of Korobov, Igor Kostyukov, presided over the ceremony.
Korobov, who joined military intelligence in 1985, became a hero of Russia for his service.
His predecessor, Igor Sergun, died suddenly in early January 2016.
The GRU is one of the three spy agencies in Moscow, alongside the foreign intelligence agency SVR and the security service of the FSB.
It has a vast network of spies abroad and its highly qualified special forces "spetsnaz" have fought in various conflicts, including in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
The structure of the agency, its workforce and its finances are a secret state. His emblem is a black bat flying over a globe.
