Moscow — Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, the first deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence since 2011, was shot several times on Friday by an unidentified attacker outside an apartment building in northwest Moscow and was hospitalized, the Investigative Committee said. Spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said no suspects have been identified.
The attack came a day after Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators wrapped up two days of talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the nearly four-year conflict in Ukraine; the Russian delegation was led by military intelligence chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov.
Since the 2022 invasion, Russian authorities have pointed to Kyiv in a series of killings of military officers and public figures inside Russia. Ukraine has acknowledged responsibility for some operations but has not commented on the shooting of Alekseyev, officials said.
Recent high-profile incidents cited by Russian officials include:
– December: a car bomb killed Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff.
– April: Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff, was killed by an explosive device placed in his parked car near his apartment outside Moscow; a suspect was quickly arrested. After that attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had been informed by the head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence about the ‘liquidation’ of top Russian military figures and added that ‘justice inevitably comes,’ though he did not name Moskalik.
– December 2024: Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment; his assistant also died. Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for that attack.
Authorities said the investigation into Alekseyev’s shooting is ongoing, and they provided no further details on possible motives or suspects.
