Senior Russian officer shot in Moscow in apparent assassination attempt

A senior Russian military official has been hospitalised after being shot several times in Moscow, according to state media, quoting Russian officials, Al Jazeera reported.

An unknown assailant carried out a gun attack on Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, deputy chief of Russian military intelligence, in a residential building, Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee (ICR), said on Friday.

Alekseyev is deputy chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff at the Ministry of Defence.

Petrenko told reporters that a criminal investigation has been opened for attempted murder and illegal trafficking in firearms regarding the incident, according to the Interfax news agency.

She said that the shooting attack took place in a building at Volokolamsk Highway in Moscow and the suspect fled the scene.

“The victim was hospitalised in one of the city hospitals,” Petrenko said, adding that investigators and forensic experts are currently working at the scene of the incident, reviewing security camera footage and questioning witnesses.

Alekseyev was one of the officials sent to negotiate with the late leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a rebellion against Moscow in 2023 and was later killed in a plane crash, which many observers blamed on President Vladimir Putin.

Stabil.Az