Igor Kostyukov

Force in Play

Active, Alekseyev's superior

Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a campaign of assassinations has targeted its military elite in Moscow. On February 6, 2026, an attacker posing as a delivery person shot Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev three times in his Moscow apartment building. Alekseyev, first deputy head of Russian military intelligence (GRU) and accused mastermind of the 2018 Salisbury nerve agent attack, underwent emergency surgery, regained consciousness on February 7, and stabilized under intensive care.

Updated May 27