A senior Russian military official was shot inside an apartment building in Moscow early Friday and has been rushed to hospital, authorities confirmed, in what appears to be another targeted attack on a high-ranking figure linked to Russia’s war leadership.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said an unidentified attacker fired multiple shots at General Vladimir Alekseyev before escaping the scene. Alekseyev, who holds one of the most powerful positions within Russia’s military command, was hospitalized following the incident. Officials did not disclose his current condition or provide details about the suspect.
General Alekseyev serves as the first deputy chief of Russia’s general staff and has played a key role in several major military operations. His career includes leading intelligence missions during Russia’s intervention in Syria in support of former president Bashar al-Assad. He was also involved in high-level negotiations with Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin during the failed mutiny against Russia’s military leadership in 2023.
The shooting comes amid a series of deadly attacks targeting senior Russian military officials since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian authorities have previously claimed responsibility for some of these operations, though no such claim has been made in this case.
Investigators said they are conducting operational searches and forensic actions to identify those responsible for the attack. The Investigative Committee confirmed that efforts are ongoing to determine whether the shooting was politically or militarily motivated.
The incident follows another high-profile case last month, when a Russian court sentenced an Uzbek national to life imprisonment for the 2024 killing of General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s radiological, chemical, and biological defense forces. Kirillov was killed in Moscow when an explosive device hidden in a scooter detonated outside his apartment building, an attack Ukraine said it had coordinated.
At a human level, these events underline how deeply the conflict has spilled beyond battlefields and into everyday civilian spaces. When violence reaches apartment stairwells and front doors, it reminds ordinary people that wars are no longer distant headlines, but realities that disrupt lives, safety, and a sense of normalcy far from the front lines.
