Russian General Vladimir Alekseev shot multiple times in Moscow, Kremlin confirms
Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev has been shot multiple times in Moscow by an unknown assailant, the Kremlin said on Feb 6.
"There was an attempt on the life of Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeeev in Moscow. He was taken to hospital, and a criminal case has been opened," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov told reporters.
According to reports, the gunman fled the scene of the attack and their identity is unknown, with Peskov saying "security services are doing their work."
"The killer was waiting for the Lieutenant General of the Russian Defense Ministry today near a residential building on Volokolamskoye Highway," the Russian media channel SHOT reports.
In response to the shooting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blamed Kyiv for the assassination attempt on Alekseev, accusing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky of "provocations aimed at destabilizing the (peace) negotiation process."
Moscow's accusations come as Russian forces continue both offensive operations across the front line, and their long-range strike campaign against energy infrastructure in Ukrainian cities, despite an alleged promise from Russian president Vladimir Putin to U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to pause such strikes.
Ukraine is yet to comment on the shooting.
Who is General Alekseev?
Alekseev — born in 1961 in Soviet Ukraine — is the first deputy head of Russian military intelligence (GRU), serving in the role since 2011.
He was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2016 for organizing "malicious cyber activities" during the U.S. presidential election of that year which saw Donald Trump win his first term in office.
The Kremlin reportedly awarded him the title of Hero of the Russian Federation the following year.
Alekseev has also been accused by the U.K. and EU of orchestrating the chemical weapons attack in Salisbury in 2018 that targeted Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
They survived, but a British civilian who later found the poison was killed.
The general was the senior member of the Russian delegation negotiating the final surrender in 2022 of the defenders of the surrounded, Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
Despite Alekseev's promises that the surrendering Ukrainian soldiers would be treated in line with the Geneva Conventions, POWs from Azovstal were subject to systemic torture and abuse, wrote Denys Prokopenko, leader of the Ukrainian contingent at the time and now commander of the 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard.
"Even if Alekseev survives this time, he will not sleep peacefully. And one day the matter will be brought to an end," Prokopenko added.
Alekseev was also instrumental in quelling the short-lived Wagner rebellion in 2023, being one of those sent to negotiate with Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Ukraine has not been officially linked to the shooting and is yet to comment, though Kyiv has previously targeted Russian officials involved in Moscow's full-scale invasion.
Most recently, Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff's operational training department, was killed in a car bombing in Moscow on Dec. 22.
An explosive device attached to the underside of the lieutenant general's car detonated in the morning on Yaseneva Street in Moscow. Sarvarov was taken to the hospital but later died from his injuries.
