Top Russian general reportedly behind Salisbury poisonings shot in assassination bid in Moscow
A top Russian military general, said to be involved in the 2018 Salisbury poisonings, was shot outside his Moscow apartment in an alleged assassination attempt.
An unidentified gunman fired several shots at Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence arm, before fleeing the scene, the investigators said.
It is the latest in a series of assassination attempts Russia has blamed on Ukraine.
Mr Alexeyev, 64, has previously been recognised by president Vladimir Putin with a Hero of Russia award. His position meant he would have been closely involved in prosecuting Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Mr Alexeyev is believed to have been behind the deadly Salisbury poisonings that caused the tragic death of mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess, 44, according to reports. The EU imposed sanctions on him over the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in 2018.
A UK public inquiry concluded in December that Mr Putin must have ordered the novichok nerve agent attack on the Russian double agent in a “reckless” display of power that led to the death of an innocent woman.
Skripal was found along with his daughter Yulia slumped unconscious, on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March 2018 after novichok was applied to the front door handle of his nearby home. About four months later, Sturgess died from exposure to the poison after her partner found a counterfeit perfume bottle which Russian spies had used to smuggle the military-grade nerve agent into the country, the inquiry said.
Born in Ukraine when it was still part of the Soviet Union, Mr Alexeyev was placed under US sanctions over Russian cyber interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt, which he said – without providing evidence – was designed to sabotage peace talks.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Since the start of the war in 2022, Ukrainian military intelligence has claimed responsibility for assassinating several senior Russian officers, some of whom have appeared on a public list of Ukraine’s enemies.
The Kommersant daily, quoting law enforcement sources, said Mr Alexeyev’s attacker had been waiting when he left his apartment to go to work and that Mr Alexeyev had sustained gunshot wounds to an arm, a leg and his chest during a struggle.
The Kremlin said it hoped Mr Alexeyev would survive and recover. Mr Putin has been briefed on the shooting and Russia’s intelligence services are investigating, it said.
“It is clear that military commanders and high-level specialists are at risk during wartime,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
