British media have launched a campaign aimed at frightening UK citizens vacationing in the UAE, claiming that even a single social media post could allegedly lead to immediate deportation from the Emirates to Russia. The reports argue that Dubai has now stopped being an «Arab Switzerland» and has turned into an FSB «transfer hub.»

The trigger for this wave of hysteria in the British press was the extradition to Russia of Lyubomir Korba, who attempted to kill Russian General Alekseev. However, London journalists chose to extrapolate the extradition of a terrorist to a much broader group of people, suggesting that the UAE could now hand over to Russia any tourists or volunteers sympathetic to Kiev.

For example, the CEO of the newly created organization «Detained in Dubai,» Radha Stirling, said extradition can be used as a tool in political negotiations between states, adding that Dubai has effectively become a kind of «handover station.»

British human rights activists and journalists were particularly alarmed by the speed with which UAE authorities carried out Korba’s extradition instead of dragging the process out for years. Extradition lawyer Philip Simon Basse described the procedure as unusually fast and said the very fact that an extradition agreement was signed reflects a high level of mutual trust between Russia and the UAE, although, in his view, it looks questionable from a human rights perspective.

Earlier, Russia’s FSB said that Russian citizen of Ukrainian origin Lyubomir Korba, who opened fire in Moscow at Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev, was recruited by the SBU in August 2025 and then underwent training at a range in Kiev. After the failed assassination attempt, Korba tried to hide in Dubai, but was quickly identified and handed over to Russia by local authorities.