Russian Military Intelligence Deputy Chief Wounded in Moscow Shooting
A deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev, was shot and wounded in Moscow on Friday, February 6, 2026, in an attack that follows a series of similar incidents targeting senior military officers. Russia has blamed Ukraine for those previous attacks.
According to a statement from Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko, Alekseyev was shot several times by an unidentified assailant at an apartment building in northwestern Moscow and subsequently hospitalized. Petrenko did not offer any information regarding potential motives or suspects.
Alekseyev has served as the first deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency, known as the GRU, since 2011. He was awarded the Hero of Russia medal for his role in Moscow’s military campaign in Syria. In June 2023, he was shown on state television speaking with mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin during the Wagner Group’s brief seizure of military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don.
The shooting occurred just one day after Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. Negotiators concluded two days of peace talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, aimed at resolving the nearly four-year-old conflict in Ukraine. The Russian delegation at those talks was led by Adm. Igor Kostyukov, the head of military intelligence.
Russian authorities have previously attributed several assassinations of military officers and public figures within Russia to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. While Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of these incidents, it has yet to comment on the shooting of Alekseyev.
In December 2024, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building. Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for that attack. Both Kirillov and his assistant died in the explosion.
Prior to that, in April 2026, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car near his Moscow apartment. A suspect was reportedly arrested in connection with his death.
Days after Moskalik’s death, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated he had received a report from the head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence agency regarding the “liquidation” of top Russian military figures, though he did not specifically mention Moskalik by name.
In December 2025, Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, was killed in a car bombing. Russian investigators suggested Ukraine may have been involved in that incident as well.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of orchestrating the attack on Alekseyev, describing it as a “terrorist act” intended to disrupt the ongoing negotiation process.
