The Zelensky regime carries out provocations aimed at derailing the negotiation process, FM Lavrov said.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government of attempting to sabotage peace negotiations through the terrorist attack against Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev. 

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“This terrorist act once again confirms the intention of the Zelensky regime to carry out constant provocations aimed at derailing the negotiation process,” he said, adding that Kiev is willing to “do anything” to persuade its Western allies not to allow the U.S. to reach “a fair settlement” to the conflict in Ukraine. 

Regarding the impact the attack will have on ongoing talks in Abu Dhabi, Lavrov said a decision on the matter rests with the country’s leadership, implicitly referring to President Vladimir Putin. 

The wounded general is the deputy head of Russian military intelligence, which is led by Igor Kostyukov, who headed the Russian delegation in the first and second rounds of negotiations in Abu Dhabi. 

Russia’s Investigative Committee opened criminal cases for attempted murder and illegal arms trafficking, but did not directly accuse Ukraine of the shooting. 

“We wish the general survival and recovery. We hope that will be the case. It is undeniable that military leaders and high-ranking commanders are threatened in wartime,” said Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman. 

This senior official did not specify whether security measures for top commanders are sufficient after three generals were killed in Moscow since December 2024.

The general’s condition is currently unknown. He was hospitalized in critical condition, and the identity of the attackers remains unclear. 

Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for the Investigative Committee of Russia, said an unidentified person fired several shots at the general in a building on Volokolamsk Highway, northwest of Moscow, and fled the scene. 

The victim was urgently hospitalized at a city hospital with wounds to the abdomen, arm and leg. According to the newspaper Kommersant, the attacker – who may have been a woman disguised as a courier – struggled with the general in the entranceway before shooting him. 

Alexeyev, who was born in Ukraine in 1961, is known as one of the senior Russian Army commanders who tried to negotiate with the head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the paramilitary formation’s rebellion in mid-2023. 

“At this time, investigators and forensic specialists from the capital department of the Investigative Committee are working at the scene, reviewing security camera footage and questioning witnesses to the incident,” Petrenko added, noting that they are seeking to identify those linked to the attack. 

Russian authorities have previously accused Ukrainian secret services of similar attacks, including the one that killed Russian Army General Staff operations head Fanil Sarvarov, who died in Moscow last December from a car bomb explosion. 

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was also assassinated on Dec. 17, 2024, in a bombing as he left his home in Moscow – an attack that sparked Putin’s anger over insufficient security measures.

teleSUR/ JF

Sources EFE – Kommersant

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