Russia to interrogate two suspects over attempted killing of general, report says

MOSCOW, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Two suspects in the attempted assassination of top Russian military intelligence official General Vladimir Alexeyev “will soon be interrogated,” the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Saturday, citing a source close to the investigation.

After interrogation, the suspects will be charged, the newspaper reported, without confirming whether the suspects had been detained. Russia has not officially reported the detention of the suspects.

Alexeyev, deputy head of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence arm, was shot in his Moscow apartment building and rushed to hospital on Friday.

Alexeyev underwent successful surgery and regained consciousness on Saturday, but remained under medical supervision, Kommersant reported.

Russian investigators said on Friday that an unidentified gunman had fired several shots at Alexeyev before fleeing the scene.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt, which he said – without citing evidence – was designed to sabotage peace talks.

Ukraine said it had nothing to do with this shooting.

Alexeyev, 64, was placed under U.S. sanctions over Russian cyber interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The EU imposed sanctions on him over the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury in 2018.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Toby Chopra and Aidan Lewis)