On Friday, Moscow was shaken by an attack on the deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence service, who was shot and injured. This incident comes in the wake of various killings of high-ranking military figures that Russia attributes to Ukraine.
According to Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee, Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev, aged 64, was hit multiple times by unidentified assailants within an apartment building in northwest Moscow and is currently hospitalized.
Petrenko didn’t disclose any details about the possible perpetrators of the attack on Alekseev, who has served as the first deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence since 2011.
Alekseev has been recognized for his contributions to military operations in Syria, where he received the Order of the Hero of Russia. Notably, he was seen in June 2023 speaking with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, during a time when they were capturing military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don amid a failed revolt.
The shooting incident took place just a day after representatives from Russia, Ukraine, and the United States wrapped up two days of discussions in Abu Dhabi, aimed at resolving the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The Russian side was led by Admiral Igor Kostyukov, who heads military intelligence.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov indicated that President Vladimir Putin was made aware of the attack, highlighting that law enforcement must improve safety measures for military leaders during the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.
Russian officials have accused Ukraine of orchestrating several attacks on military personnel and public figures since the conflict began nearly four years ago.
Ukraine has, at times, acknowledged its role in some of these incidents but has not yet commented on this latest shooting involving Alekseev.
Just a few months prior, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvalov, who oversaw operations for the Russian Armed Forces, was killed by a car bomb in December 2025. Earlier this year, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik also lost his life due to an explosive device placed in a vehicle near an apartment building on the outskirts of Moscow; the alleged perpetrator was apprehended quickly.
Following Moskalik’s death, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned receiving intel about a “purge” among Russian military leaders, implying that retribution was on the horizon, although he did not specifically reference Moskalik.
In December 2024, another significant figure, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb concealed in a motorized scooter outside his home, with his assistant also dying in the blast. Ukrainian security services took responsibility for that attack.
