London: A top Russian general has been shot in Moscow by an unidentified gunman during a key stage in ceasefire talks over the war in Ukraine, sparking fears it could sabotage a potential agreement.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev, who has been sanctioned by western governments for his suspected involvement in poisonings and cybercrime, was shot six times near an apartment building and rushed to hospital.
A key aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the general was part of the leadership group that planned the full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago and helped the Russian president put down a rebellion by Wagner Group chief Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2023.
The shooting came a day after Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met with US officials in Abu Dhabi to discuss a potential ceasefire. The Russian delegation was led by Igor Kostyukov, the head of Russian military intelligence and Alekseyev’s commanding officer.
US President Donald Trump has sought to get a peace deal on Ukraine but has stopped funding military support for the country, expecting European nations to pay for weapons and missile defence systems made in America.
Trump sent special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to the talks.
The chief negotiator for Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, was positive about the talks before news of the attempted assassination in Moscow.
“The discussions were substantive and productive, focusing on concrete steps and practical solutions,” Umerov said on social media on Wednesday, the first day of the talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was cautious about any results from the peace talks.
“What can already be said is that further meetings are planned in the near future, likely in the United States,” he said on Thursday, one day before the shooting.
“We are ready for all workable formats that can genuinely bring peace closer and make it reliable, lasting, and such that deprives Russia of any appetite to continue the war.
“It is crucial that this war ends in a way that leaves Russia with no reward for its aggression. This is one of the key principles that restore and guarantee real security.”
Russian forces bombarded Ukrainian targets this week with 32 ballistic missiles from Monday to Tuesday, despite claims from Trump that Putin had agreed to suspend attacks for a week.
The Russian missiles and drones have struck energy systems across Ukraine during one of the coldest times of the year, with temperatures falling to around minus 20 degrees Celsius.
The attacks continued on Friday morning (late on Friday night AEDT) across Ukraine as alarms sounded in Kyiv and other cities.
Zelensky confirmed on Friday there were further attacks on energy systems and logistics.
“The situation remains difficult in Kyiv, where more than 1200 buildings in different districts of the capital are without heating,” he said on social media.
“I consider the performance of the Air Force in some regions of Ukraine to be unsatisfactory.”
The attempted assassination in Moscow is the latest example of an attack on a Russian military leader. In December, a car bomb killed Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff.
In April, another senior Russian military officer, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car parked near his apartment building just outside Moscow. A Russian man who previously lived in Ukraine pleaded guilty to carrying out the attack and said that he had been paid by Ukraine’s security services.
In December 2024, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building. Kirillov’s assistant also died. Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for the attack.
with wires
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.