Russian general Vladimir Alekseyev in critical condition after Moscow shooting

Reporting by Theguardian says a senior Russian military official, Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev, was rushed to hospital after being shot in Moscow on Friday and is in critical condition. Early reports say he was shot several times outside his apartment by an unknown gunman in the north-west of the city.

Alexeyev is a deputy director of Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, and has been widely described as a key figure overseeing the country’s private military companies. He was among the senior officials dispatched to negotiate with Yevgeny Prigozhin during the Wagner group’s brief mutiny in the summer of 2023 and is under US sanctions for his alleged involvement in efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election.

No party has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion in Moscow is likely to fall on Kyiv.

Russia, Moscow