The head of the Russian military intelligence, the GRU, Igor Korobov, dies in Moscow today 2018-11-22

MOSCOW – The head of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, accused of interference in the US elections, died in Moscow. He was 62 years old.

The Ministry of Defense announced Thursday in a statement that Igor Korobov, who had been running the GRU since 2016, had died Wednesday of a "long and serious illness", a usual Russian euphemism for cancer. His predecessor had died two years earlier, at 58 years old.

The United States and its allies have accused the GRU of hacking of the 2016 US presidential campaign, orchestrating the march neurotoxic agent attacks against a Russian ex-spy in Britain, and disrupt anti-doping efforts in world sports. The Russian authorities rejected the accusations, describing them as participating in a smear campaign in the West.

Korobov was one of the Russian officials hit by US sanctions in March for their efforts to "undermine cybersecurity on behalf of the Russian government".

According to the Reuters news agency, Korobov's fate had become uncertain as a result of the murderous assassination attempt against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in England in March. Britain and the United States reported that Russian intelligence agents used the nerve agent of the Soviet Novichok era during the attack, which had not managed to kill Skripal but had left a civilian death.

According to unconfirmed information in the Russian media, the head of the GRU was personally reprimanded by President Vladimir Putin for the fiasco that gave the first military intelligence agency in Russia an unhappy look on the world stage.

Korobov was notably absent from the ceremony that took place this month on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the GRU, Reuters reported. Putin was present and praised the "unique abilities" of the agency.