A Deputy Chief Of Russia’s Military Intelligence Service Is Shot And Wounded In Moscow

MOSCOW (AP) — The deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency was shot and wounded in an attack following an attack in Moscow on Friday. a series of assassinations High-ranking officers for whom Russia blames Ukraine.

Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement that Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev was hospitalized after he was shot several times by an unidentified assailant in an apartment building in northwest Moscow.

He did not say who might be behind the attack on the 64-year-old, who has served as the first deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency, known as the GRU, since 2011.

He was awarded the Hero of Russia medal for his role in Moscow’s military campaign in Syria and was shown speaking to the mercenary chief on state television in June 2023. Yevgeny Prigozhin When the Wagner Group captured the military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don during the brief rebellion.

The attack took place a day after Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators wrapped up their speeches two days of talks In Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, it is almost intended to end 4 years of conflict in Ukraine. The Russian delegation was led by Alekseyev’s boss, military intelligence chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the attack and added that law enforcement should increase protection of senior military officers during the conflict in Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials did not comment on the attack.

Asked about the clash, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it would be up to law enforcement to conduct the investigation, but called it a clear “terrorist act” aimed at derailing Ukraine’s peace talks.

Kommersant newspaper said that the attacker, disguised as a deliveryman, shot the general twice on the stairs of the apartment building, wounding him in his foot and arm. The report stated that Alekseyev tried to take the gun away and was shot again in the chest before the attacker ran away.

Born when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, Alekseyev rose steadily to lead Russian military intelligence operations in Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere.

Approved by Washington. He faced sanctions in the United Kingdom and the European Union for interfering in the 2016 US elections and for his alleged role in the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in 2018. nerve agent Novichok In Salisbury, England.

Since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in 2022, Russian authorities have held Kiev responsible for this incident. several assassinations Officers and public figures in Russia. Ukraine claimed responsibility for some of these.

one in december car bomb killed Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, Head of the Operational Training Department of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

In April, another senior Russian officer, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of the main operations department of the General Staff, was killed with a bomb planted in his car parked near his apartment building just outside Moscow.

A Russian man who previously lived in Ukraine pleaded guilty to carrying out the attack and said he was paid by Ukraine’s security services.

Days after Moskalik’s killing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had received a report from the head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service on the “liquidation” of senior Russian military figures, adding that “justice will inevitably come,” although he did not mention Moskalik by name.

In December 2024, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, chief of the army’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed with a bomb hidden on an electric scooter in front of his apartment building. Kirillov’s assistant also died. Ukrainian security services claimed responsibility for the attack.