High-Ranking Russian General Shot in Moscow

Sat Feb 07 2026 13:53:47 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev, a prominent figure in Russia's military, was shot multiple times in Moscow, raising concerns over security amid ongoing tensions related to the Ukraine conflict.

In a shocking incident in Moscow, Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev, second-in-command of Russia's GRU military intelligence, was shot multiple times and sustained serious injuries. Investigators have opened a criminal case for attempted murder, while Russian officials blame Ukraine for the attack, claiming it aims to disrupt peace negotiations regarding the ongoing conflict. Witnesses reported hearing gunfire in the vicinity of Alexeyev's residence, and his medical condition remains critical as authorities search for the assailant.

A high-profile general in Russia's military has been shot several times and wounded in Moscow.

Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev, 64, was taken to hospital after the attack in a residential block of flats in the north-western outskirts of the capital, and is believed to be in a serious condition. The attacker fled the scene.

Alexeyev is number two in the main directorate of Russia's GRU military intelligence and the latest high-ranking military figure to have been targeted in or near Moscow since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

No-one has so far claimed the attack, but senior Russian officials immediately blamed Ukraine, saying it was trying to derail negotiations to end the war.

The victim has been taken to one of the city's hospitals, said Svetlana Petrenko of Russia's Investigations Committee (SK), which said it opened a criminal case for attempted murder.

Investigators are searching CCTV footage for clues and began interviewing potential witnesses of the attack on Friday morning on Volokolamsk Highway.

A neighbour of Alexeyev told the Reuters news agency she had been woken by the sound of several shots and had then heard another neighbour screaming for help.

Alexeyev has played a significant role during the war in Ukraine, taking part in talks with Ukraine during the Russian siege of the city of Mariupol in 2022. Earlier he was awarded the title Hero of Russia for the role he played in Moscow's military intervention in Syria's civil war.

He was placed under European Union and UK sanctions after the GRU was accused of being behind the 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury in the UK.

He was also sent to negotiate with the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a short and bloody mutiny in June 2023.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin was being briefed on the shooting. We wish first of all that the general survives and recovers. We hope that will be the case, Peskov told reporters.

Ukraine has not commented but has claimed some attacks on Russian military figures in the past. An Uzbek man was jailed in January for the 2024 killing of another general in an explosion outside a block of flats in Moscow.