Assassinations are nothing new in Russia. And since the start of Russia’s war of attrition against Ukraine, the numbers have increased, with Ukraine taking responsibility for some, but not all, of them.

In just over a year since December of 2024, three Lieutenant Generals have been targeted and killed in or around Moscow alone:

> December 2024: Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, chief of the military’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces, by a car bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building;

> April 2025: Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff, by an explosive device placed in his parked car; and

> December 2025: Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, also by a car bomb.

And today the target of a shooting outside of a high-rise apartment building northwest of Moscow’s city center was Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency known as the GRU.

At last report, Alekseyev was alive, fighting for his life in a Moscow hospital, after being shot several times by an unknown assailant who fled the scene.

The attack occurred while Alekseyev’s boss, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, was out of the country, heading the Russian delegation to the peace negotiations taking place in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in televised comments, accused Ukraine of a “terrorist act [designed to] disrupt the negotiation process.” Ukrainian officials have not yet commented.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reported that the shooting is being investigated, saying:

“The special services are doing their job. We wish the general a speedy recovery. We hope that will be the case.” [CBS News, February 6, 2026.]

And Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, added:

“Investigative actions and operational search measures are being carried out to identify the person or persons involved in committing the aforementioned crime.” [Id.]

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But was this indeed a targeted assassination by Ukrainian forces in retaliation for four years of bombardment by Russia? Perhaps . . . though they have not claimed credit for it. And a shooting by a lone assailant seems out of line with their usual, more sophisticated, covert methods.

So, if not Ukraine, then who might have been responsible? Let’s look at Alekseyev’s background.

As First Deputy Chief of the GRU since 2011, he has been under Western sanctions because of alleged cyberattacks, and for his role in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the U.K. in 2018. While Skripal and his daughter survived, an innocent bystander died as a result of accidental exposure to the deadly Novichok agent. [Id.]

Alekseyev led Russia’s intelligence operations in Syria on behalf of former leader Bashar al-Assad.

And, when the head of the paramilitary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, attempted a mutiny against the Kremlin in 2023, it was Alekseyev who was assigned to head the negotiation that ultimately put down the revolt. It should be noted that, just months after the event, Prigozhin and several of his top lieutenants were killed in a mysterious mid-air plane explosion.

So it can be assumed that Vladimir Alekseyev has made more than one enemy over the course of his career — not the least of whom might well be someone within the Putin administration itself. At this point, unless Ukrainian officials do claim responsibility, it’s probably best not to rush to judgment . . . no matter what Sergei Lavrov says.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/6/26