A high-profile Russian general and military intelligence official has been shot several times by an unidentified gunman in Moscow on Friday.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev was immediately taken to hospital after the attack in a residential building on the north-western outskirts of the capital. According to the reports, the assailant fled the scene.
Alekseyev’s condition is unknown at this time, but he is said to have survived the shooting, according to Russian media reports.
Russian media said that “the killer was waiting for the Lieutenant General of the Russian Defence Ministry near a residential building”.
The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the grounds of an “attempted murder”.
The Kremlin spokesperson confirmed that the criminal investigation is ongoing.
“There was an attempt on the life of Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev in Moscow. He was taken to hospital, and a criminal case has been opened,” Dmitri Peskov said.
Meanwhile, Moscow blamed Ukraine for the attack just hours after the attempted assassination, as the investigation was just opening.
Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said the assassination attempt on Vladimir Alekseev “demonstrates Ukraine’s desire to undermine the peace process”. He did not elaborate on the investigation’s first revelations and even preliminary conclusions.
Who is Vladimir Alekseyev?
Alekseyev is the first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU). He has been the GRU number two since 2011.
He was sanctioned by the US in 2016 for being the mastermind of “malicious cyber activities” during the US presidential election the same year.
Alekseev has also been accused by the UK and EU of orchestrating the novichok chemical weapon attack in Salisbury in 2018 that targeted Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
The two survived, but a British national who later found novichok — hidden in a perfume bottle — died from the consequences of exposure to the nerve agent.
Ukraine-born, Alekseev is also under sanctions in Canada for being complicit in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) listed Alekseev as a Russian war criminal for his involvement in Moscow’s all-out war.
“He is responsible for providing intelligence support for Russian aggression against Ukraine, organising the preparation of source data for missile and air strikes on Ukrainian territory, including civilian targets, and legalising Russia’s presence in the occupied territories by organising so-called referendums (creation of the so-called ‘Kherson People’s Republic’),” Ukrainian intelligence agency said.
The HUR also accuses Alekseev of directing intelligence support for Russian military operations in Syria that resulted in mass civilian deaths.
In Russia, Alekseev also played an important role in the Wagner mercenary group rebellion in 2023, where he was the assigned negotiator in talks with the group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
At the time, Alekseev recorded a video appeal calling for Wagner mercenaries to stand down, which the group did before reaching Moscow, defusing the crisis that resulted in Prigozhin’s death in an aeroplane crash caused by an explosion on board.
According to multiple reports, Alekseev was a key architect of the Wagner mercenary group and Redut private military company.
The Wagner rebellion and its consequent collapse paved the way for Redut, a GRU-backed private military company, to emerge as a key Kremlin PMC under the control of Russian military intelligence.
Same as Wagner, Redut reportedly operated in Syria and then largely replaced Wagner in Russia’s war against Ukraine after Prigozhin’s failed rebellion.
The Kremlin awarded Alekseev the title of Hero of the Russian Federation in 2017.
Negotiations over Mariupol defenders
Commander of the 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine said that Alekseyev was the senior Russian representative at the negotiations in Mariupol in May 2022 during the withdrawal of the Ukrainian garrison from Azovstal steel plant.
“Alekseyev promised that the Russians would comply with the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war and guaranteed normal conditions of detention for our prisoners”, Denys Prokopenko wrote, adding that Alekseyev even signed the relevant document in Mariupol at that time.
Prokopenko also posted the document on X.
“For our part, we demonstrated humanity and handed over to Alekseyev three Russian prisoners of war who had received medical treatment and were provided with food and water.”
Prokopenko, known by his callsign “Redis” spent few months in Russian captivity following the withdrawal from Mariupol, before being released in a high-profile swap in September 2022.
He said despite Alekseyev‘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.
“The word of an officer, a native of Vinnytsia region, and a traitor to his homeland, proved to be worthless. The systematic torture of captured Azov fighters, the denial of medical care, and starvation are clear proof of this.”
“Even if Alekseyev survives this attempt, he will never sleep peacefully again. And one day, this will be finished,” Prokopenko added.