Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeev, the deputy chief of the GRU (Russian military intelligence service), was shot multiple times in the back on Friday in the Moscow apartment building where he resides.
The attack took place in the building on Volokolamskoye Shosse in Moscow where Alexeev lives.
The Russian general is seriously injured and has been hospitalized urgently. The assailant fled the scene, as reported by Nexta.
Vladimir Alexeev is one of the most powerful figures in Russian intelligence services. He personally negotiated with Evgheni Prigojin during the 2023 revolt of the Wagner mercenaries. Additionally, he oversees key secret operations of Russian military espionage.
The attack occurred immediately after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the approval of new "combat operations" by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), from which he expects "good results."
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, several assassinations have targeted Russian military commanders.
The most recent one occurred on December 22, when Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, the head of operational training at the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was killed by a bomb explosion.
The car he was driving exploded in the yard of a house in southern Moscow shortly after he got in and drove just a few meters.