On Friday, February 6, an assassination attempt was carried out in Moscow against Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexseyev, First Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the russian Armed Forces (GRU). The general was hospitalized in serious condition, according to Russian state media.
According to unofficial reports, the attack occurred in the morning as Alekseev, 63, was leaving his apartment on the 24th floor of a building on Volokolamskoye Highway. An unidentified assailant fired several shots at him and fled the scene.
What is known about Alexseyev
Vladimir Stepanovich Alexseyev was born on April 24, 1961, in the village of Holodky, Khmelnytskyi District, Vinnytsia Region. He graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School named after Margelov in 1984.
Alexseyev has served as First Deputy Chief of the GRU since 2011, working under three agency heads. In 2017, he was awarded the title hero of russia for his participation in the military operation in Syria.
He is under EU and UK sanctions over the 2018 poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, UK. The EU named him responsible for transporting the Novichok nerve agent. The United States also accused him of malicious cyber operations, including interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Alexseyev oversaw intelligence operations supporting russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including preparing data for missile and air strikes on Ukrainian territory, targeting civilian sites, and organizing so-called “referendums” in occupied territories, particularly in Kherson.
Supervision of Wagner PMC
A key aspect of Alexseyev's work was overseeing private military companies, notably the Wagner PMC. Since 2014, he managed the creation and operations of this group at the Molkino training base in Krasnodar Territory.
On June 23, 2023, Alexseyev was at the center of the Wagner mutiny. He initially recorded a message to the rebels, calling their actions “a stab in the back to the country and the president,” but this did not stop Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenaries.
When Wagner forces seized the Southern Military District headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, Alekseev and Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov were effectively taken hostage. When Prigozhin demanded that Defense Minister Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff be handed over, Alexseyev reportedly replied, “Take him!”
According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, the assassination attempt may be linked to Alexseyev’s role in suppressing the 2023 Wagner mutiny.
After Prigozhin’s death in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023, Alexseyev reportedly became the overseer of the new Redut PMC, which replaced Wagner.
Testimony from the Azov Commander
Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov Regiment, said Alekseev took part in negotiations on the withdrawal of the Mariupol garrison from Azovstal in May 2022.
“Lieutenant General Alekseev was the senior russian representative at the Mariupol negotiations. He promised that the russians would comply with the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War and guaranteed humane conditions for our prisoners. His signature was on the relevant document,” Prokopenko wrote on Facebook.
He added that the Ukrainian side even handed over three russian prisoners of war to Alekseev as a goodwill gesture. However, “the word of an officer, a native of Vinnytsia Region and traitor to his homeland, proved worthless. The regular torture of Azov prisoners, lack of medical care, and starvation are evidence of this.”
Prokopenko concluded: “Even if Alexseyev survives this attempt, he will not sleep peacefully. No war criminal ever feels safe. He will find no sanctuary anywhere in the world.”
