A Russian intelligence general was shot in Moscow.
The Kremlin accuses Ukraine of trying to sabotage negotiations with this attack.
MoscowAnother assassination attempt has been made against a Russian army general in Moscow. Vladimir Alekseyev, deputy head of Russian military intelligence (GRU) and right-hand man of the chief Russian negotiator in the Abu Dhabi trilateral peace talks, which concluded on Thursday, was shot multiple times. The Kremlin believes this is an attempt by Ukraine to derail the negotiations with the United States. Since the start of the invasion, 19 Russian Armed Forces generals have been killed. This marks the fourth attack against high-ranking military officers in Moscow in just over a year. The victim is hospitalized in serious condition.
The attack occurred early Friday morning in a residential building in Volokolamsk, northwest of the capital. The assailant, disguised as a food delivery driver, surprised the general in the lobby of his building as he was walking toward his official vehicle and shot him at least three times. Despite being wounded, the victim struggled with the attacker and tried to take his gun before the assailant finally fled. He remains at large, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has only commented that intelligence services are investigating the crime.
Although the perpetrator of the attack is unknown, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already pointed the finger directly at Ukraine. "This terrorist attack confirms, once again, the determination of the Zelensky regime to disrupt the negotiation process," he said. In his view, Kyiv is prepared to do "anything" to convince the United States not to sign "a fair agreement" with Russia.
Negotiator with Prigokhin
Alekseyev, 65, born in Ukraine, has been the deputy head of Russia's military intelligence service since 2011. He played a key role at the start of the invasion and even participated in talks with Kyiv during the siege of Mariupol. He was in charge of the mercenary groups fighting alongside the Russian army. His profile rose during the Wagner Group uprising in June 2013, when he was one of those responsible for negotiating with Yevgeny Prigokhin to end the rebellion and appeared in a video condemning his actions. However, he lost some of the Kremlin's trust due to his ambivalent stance during the uprising. For months, rumors of an imminent purge circulated, the same rumors that now fuel theories of a possible reshuffling within the GRU. Nevertheless, he has remained a key figure in the Russian war effort ever since. He oversaw the remnants of the defunct Wagner Group, the recruitment of prisoners, and the La Hispaniola brigade, formed by far-right Russian football hooligans. Between 2019 and 2020, the European Union and the United Kingdom added Alekseyev to their sanctions lists for the use of chemical weapons. He is considered ultimately responsible for the attempted poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in 2018 in Great Britain with the nerve agent Novichok. Previously, in 2016, the United States had also sanctioned him in connection with cyberattacks aimed at interfering in that year's presidential elections.
