Top Russian Military Intelligence Official Shot & Wounded In Moscow Apartment
A top Russian military intelligence general has been shot in a Moscow apartment building on Friday, but has reportedly survived the attack and was transported to a local hospital. But his wounds are reportedly severe.
The attack by an unknown gunman has all the hallmarks of an assassination attempt in connection to the Ukraine war, especially given the victim is a high level Russian intelligence official. Vladimir Alekseyev is the deputy head of Moscow's GRU military intelligence, and has long been sanctioned in the West for his alleged role in cyberattacks and allegations that he was behind the alleged 2018 Novichok nerve agent attack in Britain.
Lt. Gen. Alekseyev was shot several times by an "unidentified individual" before that person fled the scene. The highly decorated general, who has also heavily involved in Russia's Syria campaign of the last decade, has been first deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence since 2011.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov soon after accused Ukraine of being behind the "terrorist act" and alleged it is trying "disrupt the negotiation process" toward forging peace. According to further details:
According to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the attack took place on the 24th floor of a building on Volokolamskoye Highway.
Petrenko said that the unknown assailant shot the general several times and then fled the scene. As a result of the shooting, Alekseyev was wounded and hospitalized.
Based on the scant information presented by Russia's Investigative Committee, it seems the assassin was easily able to gain access to the building, and that the top general's apartment was broken into.
Ukraine has remained silent on the shooting of Gen. Alekseyev - despite Kiev having in the past claimed responsibility for some other attacks. For example, to review another couple of recent assassinations of top generals:
- In December, Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, was killed when a car bomb detonated.
- In April, another senior officer, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik—deputy head of the General Staff’s main operational department—was assassinated by an explosive device planted in his vehicle outside his apartment building just beyond Moscow.
Meanwhile an Azov commander is vowing that "retribution will find everyone"...
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, First Deputy Chief of the GRU of the Russian General Staff, who was shot in Moscow this morning, was the senior Russian representative at the negotiations in Mariupol in May 2022, during the withdrawal of the Mariupol garrison from Azovstal.… pic.twitter.com/WjgcG73INh
— Denys Prokopenko (@D_Redis) February 6, 2026
These covert hits has unnerved Russia's command ranks, given they take place deep inside Russia, and even in high-secured neighborhoods which residents might otherwise think are same or immune from the events of the Ukraine war.
As for Alekseyev, it's possible he could succumb to the gunshot wounds, as Russian media has indicated he remains in critical condition in an intensive care wing.