- Most recently, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev hospitalized after being shot several times by as-yet unidentified person at Moscow residential building on Friday
- Commenting on Friday’s shooting, top Russian diplomat claims attack confirms Ukraine’s ‘focus on constant provocations’ aimed at disrupting peace negotiations
ISTANBUL
In the past 15 months, a number of top Russian generals have been targeted in assassination attempts that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv, attracting major media attention as the nearly four-year Ukraine war rages on.
The claims voiced by Moscow come particularly as the armed conflict, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, is due to enter its fifth year later this month amid peace negotiations mediated by the US, most recently in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Here is a look at the top Russian military officials targeted since December 2024:
Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev - Feb. 6, 2026
Just a day after the Abu Dhabi talks, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was shot several times by an as-yet unidentified individual at a residential building in northwestern Moscow on Friday morning.
Alekseyev remains hospitalized after the attack. He has served as the first deputy head of the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency, since 2011.
While Russia’s Investigative Committee said authorities are working to identify the person or persons involved in the shooting, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the attack, defining it as a "terrorist act."
At a press conference in the Russian capital, Lavrov claimed that the attack confirmed Ukraine's "focus on constant provocations" aimed at disrupting peace negotiations to end the nearly four-year war.
He also claimed that the shooting proved Kyiv is willing to "do anything to convince its Western sponsors to keep up with the US in its efforts to derail them from achieving a fair settlement." Ukraine has not commented on Lavrov’s claims or the shooting.
Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov - Dec. 22, 2025
Prior to Alekseyev’s shooting, the most recent incident targeting Russian generals took place in December last year, when Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov died from his injuries following a car explosion.
The blast resulting in Sarvarov’s death took place on the morning of Dec. 22 on Yasenevaya Street in the Russian capital, according to the Investigative Committee, and was caused by an explosive device planted under the bottom of a car.
The general was head of the Russian General Staff's Operational Training Directorate.
"Investigators are pursuing various theories regarding the murder. One of them is that the crime was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence agencies,” Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said while announcing the Russian general’s death, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the incident as a “terrible murder.”
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for Sarvarov’s killing.
Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik - April 25, 2025
Another assassination attempt targeting a Russian general occurred on April 25 last year, when Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car blast in the town of Balashikha in the Moscow region.
The Investigative Committee said the explosion killing Moskalik, who served as deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff, was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) filled with shrapnel.
A day later, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest of a Russian national, Ignat Kuzin, who was accused of planting the explosive that killed Moskalik.
Meanwhile, on April 27, Petrenko said Kuzin admitted to being recruited by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) with the promise of $18,000.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Moscow in November of last year and was charged under multiple articles of the country’s criminal code. He was also handed a fine of 2 million Russian rubles (about $26,000).
Ukraine has not confirmed involvement in Moskalik’s death, though President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram following a meeting with the head of the country’s Foreign Intelligence Service on April 28 that the foreign intelligence chief reported on the “liquidation of individuals from the top command of the Russian Armed Forces.”
The Ukrainian president gave no further details.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov - Dec. 17, 2024
The first incident involving Russian generals occurred on Dec. 17, 2024, when Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of the Russian Armed Forces' Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear Defense Troops, was killed.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said at the time that Kirillov and his assistant were killed by an explosive device planted in a scooter parked near the entrance to a residential building in Moscow’s Ryazansky Prospekt.
The country’s Federal Security Service said a day later that it and other government bodies identified and detained an Uzbek citizen born in 1995, who admitted that Ukrainian special services recruited him and promised him $100,000 and a European passport.
In January of last year, a military court in Moscow sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of 1 million Russian rubles (approximately $13,000), while three others received lengthy prison sentences as part of the investigation into the incident.
Russian authorities, including the Kremlin, have accused Ukraine of organizing Kirillov’s killing, adding: “Once again it is confirmed that the Kyiv regime does not shy away from terrorist methods of operation.”
Although Kyiv has not officially commented on the incident, Ukrainian media outlets, including state news agency Ukrinform, reported that Kirillov's death came as the result of a "special operation" by the country’s Security Service, citing sources.
The source described Kirillov as a “completely legitimate target.”
