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6 February, 09:16
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Russian general shot in Moscow in recent attack on high-ranking military officials

Deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence, Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev was hospitalized after receiving a gunfire wound in Russian capital Moscow, becoming the latest high-ranking military official targeted since Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Alexeyev, 64, was shot in a residential block of flats in the outskirts of Moscow by an unidentified assailant who fled the scene of attack. "The victim has been taken to one of the city's hospitals," said Svetlana Petrenko of Russia's Investigations Committee, which said it launched a criminal proceeding for attempted murder.

Moscow has accused Kyiv of orchestrating the assassination attempt on Alekseyev, who heads Russia’s delegation in ongoing talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US in Abu Dhabi. In televised remarks Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Kyiv of plotting a “terrorist act” aimed at disrupting peace talks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the attack was being investigated by Russia’s secret services, adding that President Vladimir Putin kept informed.

Alekseyev had held the second senior post at Russia’s military intelligence, known as GRU since 2011 and had played a key role during Russia’s war of invasion in Ukraine, taking part in talks with Ukraine during the Russian siege of the embattled city of Mariupol in 2022.

Ukraine has not commented on Russia’s accusations yet. It should be note that Kyiv had claimed responsibility for several other attacks on senior Russian military officials in the past. In late January, Russian intelligence officials claimed they thwarted an assassination attempt on a Russian soldier in St Petersburg. Earlier in 2024, Russian jailed an Uzbek national for killing Russian general Igor Kirillov in an explosion outside a block of flats in Moscow upon instructions from Kyiv. Ukraine’s Security Service acknowledged it was behind the attack. Another senior Russian military official, an officer of the GRU, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, who was in charge of the Russian army’s training department, was killed in an explosion of an improvised explosive device planted under a car in Moscow.