Russian Spy Chief Shot in Moscow Lobby, Fighting for Life After Dawn Attack
A senior Russian military intelligence chief was fighting for his life today after being shot at point-blank range inside his Moscow apartment building, in a brazen early-morning attack that has sent shockwaves through the Kremlin’s security establishment.
Vladimir Alekseyev, 64, a lieutenant general and one of the most powerful figures inside Russia’s GRU spy agency, was struck multiple times in the back by an unknown gunman who fled the scene. He was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.
The shooting happened shortly after 7am in the lobby of a residential tower on Volokolamsk Highway, close to Alekseyev’s home.
A witness described hearing a gunshot followed by screams for help as the incident unfolded. “I went out and he was lying there covered in blood,” the witness said. “A neighbour was shouting, ‘Call an ambulance — he’s been shot.’”
The high-ranking officer was attacked as he left his 24th-floor apartment. Reports said he remained conscious after the shooting as emergency services fought to stabilise him before rushing him to hospital.
Alekseyev is deputy head of the GRU military intelligence service. His superior, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, led the Russian negotiating team at peace talks with Ukraine in Abu Dhabi earlier this week.
According to the EU sanctions list, Alekseyev was responsible for the storage, transportation and operational use of the Novichok nerve agent linked to the 2018 Salisbury poisoning.
Speculation quickly mounted over who may be behind the attack. Some observers suggested possible Ukrainian involvement, while others pointed to internal power struggles within Russia’s security and military elite.
The GRU has played a central role in operations against Ukraine, and Alekseyev has been linked to reconnaissance efforts used to identify targets for Russian airstrikes.
He is regarded as a trusted figure by Vladimir Putin and emerged prominently during Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed Wagner mutiny in 2023, when he branded the rebellion “a stab in the back of the country and the president.”
Alekseyev was also seen as instrumental in the 2024 arrest — and subsequent jailing — of former deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov on corruption charges.
He has been awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation for “courage and heroism in the performance of military duty” and is widely described as a founding figure behind the Wagner private army and the now-disbanded Espanyola brigade, whose ranks included Russian football hooligans.
There was growing astonishment in Moscow that, despite a series of Ukrainian assassination strikes on senior Russian military figures, Alekseyev appeared to have minimal visible security protection at the time of the attack.
Why This Shooting Is Sending Shockwaves Through Moscow
The shooting of Vladimir Alekseyev is rattling Moscow because it cuts straight into the heart of Russia’s security elite.
A serving deputy head of the GRU being shot inside his own apartment building at dawn raises immediate questions about internal stability, protection failures, and whether senior figures are now exposed even far from the front lines of the Ukraine war.
Coming days after peace talks abroad and amid recent assassinations of Russian military figures, the attack amplifies fears of escalation, retaliation, and deepening power struggles inside Russia itself.
