Russian Accusation Against Ukraine for Attempting to Assassinate Senior Officer in Moscow

SadaNews - A senior Russian military officer was shot in a residential building in Moscow yesterday (Friday), and was subsequently taken to the hospital, while authorities accused Ukraine of orchestrating the assassination attempt "to undermine the ongoing peace talks" between the two countries.

Russian investigators said that Vladimir Alekseev, Deputy Head of Russian Military Intelligence, was shot by a "unknown person," noting that the suspect fled the scene of the incident.

Alekseev is under Western sanctions for his alleged role in cyber attacks and accusations of orchestrating a nerve gas attack against a Russian defector in the UK. He is also considered an aide to one of the members of the Russian negotiating delegation in the trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States, which concluded their second round on Thursday in Abu Dhabi.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the "terrorist act," accusing Kyiv of attempting to "fail the negotiation process" aimed at ending the four-year-long war.