Alexeyev is a top official in the main directorate of Russia’s military general staff (GRU) and is the latest high-ranking officer to be targeted in the capital since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago. He has been under European Union sanctions following accusations that the GRU was behind the 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury, UK.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said a criminal case had been opened on suspicion of attempted murder. “The victim has been hospitalised at one of the city’s hospitals,” said committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko.
Alexeyev played a significant role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, including participation in talks with Ukrainian representatives during the siege of Mariupol in 2022. He was also involved in negotiations with Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin during the brief and bloody mutiny in June 2023.
Authorities have not yet identified those responsible for the shooting, which took place in a residential block on Volokolamsk Highway. Several senior Russian military figures have been targeted in recent years. In January, an Uzbek national was jailed for the 2024 killing of General Igor Kirillov in a Moscow bombing claimed by Ukraine. In December 2025, another GRU lieutenant general, Fanil Sarvarov, was killed when an explosive device detonated under his car in the Russian capital.
