Moscow: A senior Russian military intelligence general was shot and wounded in a Moscow apartment building on Friday in what authorities described as an assassination attempt blamed on Ukraine.

Russian investigators said Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy head of the GRU military intelligence agency, was shot by an “unidentified individual” who fled the scene. Alekseyev was hospitalised after being hit by “several shots,” investigators said, without giving further details on his condition.

In televised remarks, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Kyiv of orchestrating the attack, calling it a “terrorist act” aimed at trying to “disrupt the negotiation process” to end the nearly four-year war.

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There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has previously claimed responsibility for some attacks targeting senior Russian military figures since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive in February 2022.

The Kremlin said security services were probing the incident and keeping President Vladimir Putin informed.

“The special services are doing their job,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“We wish the general a speedy recovery. We hope that will be the case,” he added.

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AFP reporters saw investigators cordon off an apartment block in a northwestern Moscow suburb, with a forensic vehicle parked nearby.

A career officer, Alekseyev has served as first deputy chief of the GRU since 2011. He has been placed under Western sanctions over alleged cyberattacks and for what Western governments say was his role in organising the 2018 nerve-agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK, an attack that killed one British citizen and sharply worsened ties between London and Moscow.

During the Ukraine war, Alekseyev was also involved in negotiations with Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin during his failed mutiny in 2023. Prigozhin later died when his plane exploded mid-air.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said investigative and operational measures were underway to identify those responsible for the shooting.