Russian general shot several times in Moscow

Alekseyev is a senior figure in the main directorate of Russia's military general staff (GRU) and is the latest high-ranking military figure to have been targeted in the capital since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began almost four years ago.

A high-profile general in Russia’s military has been shot several times and wounded in Moscow.

Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev was immediately taken to hospital after the attack in a residential building on the north-western outskirts of the city and his condition is unknown.

Alekseyev is a senior figure in the main directorate of Russia’s military general staff (GRU) and is the latest high-ranking military figure to have been targeted in the capital since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began almost four years ago.

He was placed under European Union sanctions after the GRU was accused of being behind a 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury in the UK.

By Anthony Solly