Russian Spy Chief Shot in Moscow, Fighting for Life

Russian Spy Chief Shot in Moscow Foyer, Fighting for Life After Daybreak Assault

A senior Russian navy intelligence chief was preventing for his life as we speak after being shot at point-blank vary inside his Moscow condo constructing, in a brazen early-morning assault that has despatched shockwaves by means of the Kremlin’s safety institution.

Vladimir Alekseyev, 64, a lieutenant normal and one of the highly effective figures inside Russia’s GRU spy company, was struck a number of instances in the again by an unknown gunman who fled the scene. He was rushed to hospital in a essential situation.

The taking pictures occurred shortly after 7am in the foyer of a residential tower on Volokolamsk Freeway, near Alekseyev’s residence.

A witness described listening to a gunshot adopted by screams for assist because the incident unfolded. “I went out and he was mendacity there coated in blood,” the witness mentioned. “A neighbour was shouting, ‘Name an ambulance — he’s been shot.’”

The high-ranking officer was attacked as he left his Twenty fourth-floor condo. Stories mentioned he remained aware after the taking pictures as emergency providers fought to stabilise him earlier than dashing him to hospital.

Alekseyev is deputy head of the GRU navy intelligence service. His superior, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, led the Russian negotiating crew at peace talks with Ukraine in Abu Dhabi earlier this week.

Based on the EU sanctions checklist, Alekseyev was accountable for the storage, transportation and operational use of the Novichok nerve agent linked to the 2018 Salisbury poisoning.

Hypothesis rapidly mounted over who could also be behind the assault. Some observers advised doable Ukrainian involvement, whereas others pointed to inner energy struggles inside Russia’s safety and navy elite.

The GRU has performed a central position in operations towards Ukraine, and Alekseyev has been linked to reconnaissance efforts used to determine targets for Russian airstrikes.

He’s thought to be a trusted determine by Vladimir Putin and emerged prominently throughout Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed Wagner mutiny in 2023, when he branded the rise up “a stab in the again of the nation and the president.”

Alekseyev was additionally seen as instrumental in the 2024 arrest — and subsequent jailing — of former deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov on corruption fees.

He has been awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation for “braveness and heroism in the efficiency of navy obligation” and is broadly described as a founding determine behind the Wagner personal military and the now-disbanded Espanyola brigade, whose ranks included Russian soccer hooligans.

There was rising astonishment in Moscow that, regardless of a collection of Ukrainian assassination strikes on senior Russian navy figures, Alekseyev appeared to have minimal seen safety safety on the time of the assault.

Why This Taking pictures Is Sending Shockwaves By way of Moscow

The taking pictures of Vladimir Alekseyev is rattling Moscow as a result of it cuts straight into the guts of Russia’s safety elite.

A serving deputy head of the GRU being shot inside his personal condo constructing at daybreak raises speedy questions on inner stability, safety failures, and whether or not senior figures are actually uncovered even removed from the entrance strains of the Ukraine warfare.

Coming days after peace talks overseas and amid latest assassinations of Russian navy figures, the assault amplifies fears of escalation, retaliation, and deepening energy struggles inside Russia itself.