Deputy Chief Of Russian Military Intelligence Shot At In Moscow | Image: AP
Moscow: A deputy chief of Russian military intelligence was shot and injured in Moscow on Friday. The attack follows a series of assassinations of senior military officers, for which Russia has blamed Ukraine.
Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement that Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, 64, was shot multiple times by an unknown assailant in an apartment building northwest of Moscow and was hospitalized.
Alexeyev honored with Hero of Russia Medal
Petrenko did not say who might be behind the attack on Alekseyev, who has served as first deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence since 2011. He was awarded the Hero of Russia medal for his role in Moscow’s military campaign in Syria and in June 2023 he was filmed talking to the head of the mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, after his Wagner Group captured military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don during their failed uprising.
The shooting came a day after Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators concluded two days of talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the nearly four-year-old conflict in Ukraine. The Russian delegation was led by the Chief of Military Intelligence, Admiral Igor Kostyukov.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin was informed about the attack, and said law enforcement agencies should increase protection for senior military officers during the conflict in Ukraine.
Many military officers killed so far
Russian officials have blamed Kiev for several killings of military officials and public figures in Russia since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine nearly four years ago. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of them. He has not yet commented on Alekseyev’s firing.
In December, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was killed in a car bomb explosion.
In April, another senior Russian military officer, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalyk, deputy head of the Main Operational Department in the General Staff, was killed by an explosive device planted in his car parked near his apartment building just outside Moscow. A suspected culprit was immediately arrested. A few days after Moskalyk’s assassination, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had received a report from the head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence agency on the “elimination” of top Russian military officers, and added that “justice remains served,” though he did not name Moskalyk.
In December 2024, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the army’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Security Forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building. Kirillov’s assistant also died. The Security Service of Ukraine claimed responsibility for the attack.
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