Senior Russian military officer shot multiple times in Moscow

New Delhi, Feb 6: Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, a top official in Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, was taken to hospital following the attack in a residential building on the north-western outskirts of the capital, reports the BBC. His condition was not immediately known. Russia’s Investigative Committee said a criminal case for attempted murder had been opened. “The victim has been hospitalised at one of the city’s hospitals,” spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said as reported by the BBC.

Alexeyev is the latest high-ranking military figure to be targeted in Moscow since the Russia-Ukraine war nearly four years ago.

He has played a prominent role in the war, including participating in talks with Ukraine during the 2022 siege of Mariupol and negotiating with Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin during the brief mutiny in June 2023. He was placed under European Union sanctions after the GRU was accused of involvement in the 2018 nerve-agent attack in Salisbury, the UK. Authorities said the motive and perpetrators behind the shooting on Volokolamsk Highway remain unclear. Ukraine has previously claimed responsibility for some attacks on Russian military figures, while Russian officials have said they have foiled other alleged assassination attempts in recent months.