Russian GRU Deputy Chief Shot Multiple Times in Moscow

Several gunshots shattered the morning quiet in a northwest Moscow residential complex on February 6, 2026. The target: Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev, the second-highest ranking officer in Russia's GRU military intelligence agency.

A neighbor described being "woken up by the sound of several shots," followed by screams for help. Alexeyev was immediately rushed to hospital, though his condition remains unknown. The gunman escaped, leaving investigators to comb through CCTV footage and witness testimonies.

This wasn't just another Moscow crime. Alexeyev sits at the heart of Russia's intelligence apparatus and has played crucial roles in the Ukraine conflict since it began nearly four years ago.

The Man Behind the Uniform

Alexeyev isn't your typical military bureaucrat. He's been under EU and UK sanctions since 2018, when the GRU was accused of orchestrating the Salisbury nerve agent attack that nearly killed former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.

During the war, he's been Moscow's go-to negotiator for sensitive missions. In 2022, he led talks with Ukrainian forces during the siege of Mariupol. When Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner mercenaries staged their brief but bloody mutiny in June 2023, Alexeyev was dispatched to negotiate with the rebellious warlord.

His boss, Igor Kostyukov, currently heads Russia's negotiating team in ongoing security talks with the US and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi—making Alexeyev's shooting particularly sensitive timing.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Putin was being briefed, adding: "We wish first of all that the general survives and recovers."

A Pattern of Targeted Killings

This attack continues a disturbing trend of high-profile Russian military figures being targeted in Moscow since the Ukraine invasion began. The pattern suggests a coordinated campaign rather than random violence.

The most spectacular was the December 2024 assassination of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection troops, killed by a bomb outside his Moscow apartment. An Uzbek man was sentenced in January for that killing, with Ukraine's SBU intelligence service sources claiming responsibility.

Just last month, another GRU officer, Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov, died when an explosive device detonated under his car in Moscow. He ran the armed forces' operational training department.

Russian intelligence claims it thwarted another attack on a Russian soldier in St Petersburg at the end of January, suggesting the campaign may be expanding beyond Moscow.

Shadow War Escalates

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov immediately blamed Ukraine for today's shooting, though Kyiv hasn't commented. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some previous attacks but maintains strategic ambiguity about others.

This represents a new phase of the conflict—moving beyond traditional battlefield confrontations to targeted operations in the heart of enemy territory. It's a high-stakes game where intelligence agencies operate like special forces, and capital cities become battlegrounds.

The targeting appears selective rather than random. Each victim held specific expertise: chemical weapons, operational training, intelligence coordination. Whether this represents systematic degradation of Russian capabilities or psychological warfare remains unclear.

Russian security services are clearly struggling to protect their own personnel in Moscow—a significant intelligence failure that raises questions about broader vulnerabilities in Russia's security apparatus.