A high-ranking Russian military intelligence officer, Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, is fighting for his life after being shot multiple times in Moscow on Friday. The brazen attack on the First Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU) has triggered a massive manhunt in the capital and escalated tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, just one day after landmark diplomatic meetings in the Middle East.
According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, the 64-year-old general was targeted in the stairwell of his residential building in northwestern Moscow. Authorities have opened a criminal case for “attempted murder” and the illegal trafficking of weapons, while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that President Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the assassination attempt.
Targeted at Home
The attack occurred early Friday morning at an apartment complex near the Volokolamsk Highway. Reports citing Russian business daily Kommersant indicate that the assailant may have posed as a delivery person to gain access to the secure building. The gunman reportedly ambushed Alekseyev in the stairwell, firing initial shots that wounded the general in the foot and arm.
Witnesses and security sources suggest a struggle ensued, during which Alekseyev attempted to wrestle the weapon from his attacker. During the scuffle, the general was shot again in the chest before the shooter managed to flee the scene. Russian state media broadcast footage of investigators working in the snow-covered, gated courtyard of the property, examining the area for evidence.
Alekseyev was rushed to a nearby medical facility in critical condition. Oleg Tsaryov, a pro-Kremlin figure and associate of the general, stated that Alekseyev underwent emergency surgery and remains in a coma. While official channels describe his condition as serious, no further updates on his prognosis have been released by the Ministry of Defense.
Accusations and Silence
The shooting has drawn an immediate and fiery response from Russian officials, who have linked the violence to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov branded the shooting a “terrorist act” orchestrated by the Ukrainian government. Lavrov alleged, without providing immediate evidence, that the attack was timed specifically to derail fragile peace negotiations.
The accusation refers to trilateral talks that concluded just a day earlier in Abu Dhabi, involving delegations from Russia, the United States, and Ukraine. The Russian delegation to those talks was led by Admiral Igor Kostyukov, the head of the GRU and Alekseyev’s direct superior. Following the meeting, Moscow and Washington had announced a preliminary agreement to restore high-level military communications—channels that had been severed since 2021.
Lavrov claimed the assassination attempt was a deliberate spoiler designed to sabotage this diplomatic progress. Conversely, officials in Kyiv have not formally commented on the allegations or the incident itself. The silence from Ukrainian authorities follows a pattern of ambiguity regarding attacks on Russian soil, neither confirming nor denying involvement in operations targeting military logistics or personnel behind the front lines.
A Career in the Shadows
Lieutenant General Alekseyev is one of the most significant figures in Russia’s security apparatus to be targeted within the country’s borders. As the number two officer in the GRU, he has managed some of Moscow’s most aggressive foreign intelligence operations for over a decade.
His extensive dossier includes orchestrating intelligence support for the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Western intelligence agencies have also linked him to a series of hostile activities abroad. The United States sanctioned Alekseyev in 2016 for his role in directing malicious cyber activities intended to interfere with the U.S. presidential election. Two years later, the European Union imposed sanctions on him for his alleged responsibility in the possession and transport of the nerve agent Novichok used in the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England.
Domestically, Alekseyev played a pivotal and public role during the brief mutiny by the Wagner Group in June 2023. He was one of the key generals who negotiated directly with mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in Rostov-on-Don, appearing in a video where he urged the fighters to stand down and respect the chain of command.
Security Failures Criticized
The successful infiltration of a high-security residential area to target such a protected official has sparked criticism within Russia. prominent military bloggers and pro-war commentators have expressed outrage at the apparent lapse in security, questioning how an assassin could smuggle a weapon into the general’s building and escape undetected.
The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on military and defense officials within Russia, though few have targeted someone of Alekseyev’s rank and strategic importance. As investigators scour security camera footage and interview witnesses, the manhunt for the unidentified shooter continues across Moscow.
