Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, a senior figure in Russia's military intelligence agency, was rushed to hospital on Friday after being shot several times at a residential building in northwest Moscow, Russian investigators said. The assailant fled the scene, and authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the attack.
Alexeyev serves as deputy head of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service, and has played a key role in coordinating relations between the defence ministry and the Wagner mercenary group during the early stages of the war in Ukraine. He was also involved in negotiations during Wagner's brief mutiny in June 2023, led by its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, who later died in a plane crash.
The shooting follows a string of assassinations targeting senior Russian officers since the start of the war, with three lieutenant generals killed in or near Moscow since December 2024. The attacks have fuelled anger among pro-war commentators, who have questioned security arrangements for top military officials, as Moscow continues to blame Ukraine for several of the incidents...