General shot in Moscow conscious after surgery, Russian media say

3 hours agoIan AikmanRussian Defence MinistryLt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev was attacked in his apartment building on FridayA Russian general who was shot several times in Moscow on Friday has regained consciousness after successfully undergoing surgery, according to reports in Russian media. Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev, who is Russia's deputy head of military intelligence, was rushed to hospital in serious condition on Friday morning after the attack in the north-western outskirts of the capital.Two suspects have reportedly been arrested and will soon be taken in for questioning. Russian officials have blamed Kyiv for the shooting, but Ukraine's foreign minister denied involvement, according to Reuters.Doctors said on Saturday it can be "cautiously stated that the threat to [Alexeyev's] life has passed", Russia's state news agency TASS has reported. The highly decorated general was ambushed on the landing inside his apartment block, where a gunman inflicted three bullet wounds, a source close to the investigation told the Kommersant newspaper.He was reportedly hit in the chest or abdomen before the attacker and an accomplice fled the scene.A neighbour in the building on Volokolamsk Highway told Reuters she had been woken by the sound of "several" shots and had then heard another neighbour screaming for help.Alexeyev was taken to a Moscow hospital with injuries where he reportedly underwent successful surgery."Afterwards, Alexeyev was placed in a medically induced coma. He has now regained consciousness. At this point, it can be cautiously stated that the threat to his life has passed," medical sources said, according to TASS.Investigators on Friday said they had opened a criminal case for attempted murder.Two suspects will be taken for questioning and a court hearing could take place on Sunday to determine their pretrial detention, Kommersant reported.Watch: BBC on the scene of Russian general shooting in MoscowAlexeyev, 64, is the latest high-ranking military figure to be targeted near Moscow since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As number two in the main directorate of Russia's GRU military intelligence, he has played a significant role in the war in Ukraine and was previously awarded the Hero of Russia title for his part in Moscow's military intervention in the Syrian Civil War.He was placed under European Union and UK sanctions after the GRU was accused of being behind the 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury in the UK.He was also sent to negotiate with the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a short and bloody mutiny in June 2023.His boss at the GRU, Igor Kostyukov, has been in charge of Russia's negotiating team at peace talks with Ukrainian and US teams in Abu Dhabi. The latest round ended on Thursday without a major breakthrough.No-one has so far claimed Friday's attack, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quick to point the finger at Ukraine, saying it was an attempt at "disrupting the negotiation process".Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha told Reuters that Kyiv had nothing to do with Friday's shooting. Kyiv has claimed responsibility for some attacks on Russian military figures in the past.Russian intelligence officials claimed they had thwarted an attempted attack on a Russian soldier in St Petersburg at the end of last month.Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that the US had proposed talks between negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv for the first time on American soil, "probably in Miami".He added that the US wants the war to end by June. There was no immediate comment from Washington or Moscow.