A Russian general serving as deputy head of military intelligence, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev, was shot and seriously wounded in Moscow on Friday, officials confirmed, marking the latest in a series of attacks targeting senior Russian military figures.
According to a spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee, an unidentified assailant fired multiple shots at Alekseyev inside a residential building on Volokolamskoye Highway before fleeing the scene.
CNN reported that the committee said officers are currently at the location and actively searching for the shooter, having opened a criminal case into what it called the attempted murder of a high-ranking defense ministry official.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of orchestrating the attack on Alekseyev, though he provided no evidence to support the claim. Ukrainian authorities have not issued a comment regarding the shooting.
Alekseyev, 64, has been transferred to a city hospital, where he remains in intensive care in serious condition, according to Russian state media.
He is the first deputy head of Russia’s GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate) and has been sanctioned by the United States and European Union for his involvement in cyberattacks, the Salisbury nerve agent attack in 2018, and other GRU operations.
Alekseyev has also played a key role in the war in Ukraine, including negotiating the end of the Russian siege of Mariupol with Ukrainian officials and reportedly overseeing missile and airstrike operations targeting Ukrainian territory, including civilian areas.
He has additionally faced accusations of war crimes in Syria and was sent by the Russian military in 2023 to negotiate with Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin during the group’s mutiny, which Alekseyev called “a coup as well as a stab in the back of the country and the president.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the attack is under investigation and that findings will be reported to President Vladimir Putin.
He added, “We wish the general survival and recovery.” Regarding the security of military officials, Peskov noted, “It is clear that such military leaders and highly qualified specialists are at risk during a war. That’s a matter for the intelligence services.”
A resident of Alekseyev’s building, who only gave her first name as Alexandra, told Reuters she awoke to the sound of gunfire around 6:30 a.m. local time and rushed outside with other neighbors. Police had already been called and arrived at the scene by 7 a.m.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, several prominent Russians in Moscow have been killed in attacks blamed on Ukrainian security services.
Friday’s shooting comes just a day after Russian, Ukrainian, and U.S. officials held trilateral talks in the United Arab Emirates. The Russian delegation was led by military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.
The Kremlin described the talks as “both constructive and challenging,” while Ukraine’s team said they were “truly constructive.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky added that they had “agreed that the next meeting will be held in the near future.” However, aside from a prisoner swap earlier in the week involving 314 POWs, no major breakthroughs were reported.
Meanwhile, Russian strikes on Ukraine continue. Ukrainian authorities reported that at least three people were killed and 15 injured in attacks over the past day, with Russia launching ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and hundreds of drones targeting the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Kharkiv.
In Zaporizhzhia, one attack heavily damaged an animal shelter, with video showing several animals injured or killed, according to the city council.
Amid Ukraine’s coldest winter in two decades, the energy sector remains under heavy assault. In Kyiv, 1,100 high-rise residential buildings remain without power, and roughly half of schools in two heavily impacted districts are operating without heat.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attacks on civilians, saying, “The Kremlin is doubling down on war crimes, deliberately striking homes and civilian infrastructure. This is not the conduct of a state seeking peace. It is the behaviour of a nation waging a war of attrition against a civilian innocent population.” She added that the EU is introducing its 20th package of sanctions against Russia.
