A senior Russian officer, Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev, was rushed to hospital after being shot in Moscow on Friday, officials said, in the latest of a series of attacks on senior military officials.
Lt Gen Alekseyev, 64, was shot in the back several times at a residential building in north-west Moscow and the assailant fled the scene, the Moscow prosecutor's office said. Russian President Vladimir Putin is "being briefed on the attempted assassination", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Lt Gen Alekseyev is deputy chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff at the Defence Ministry, responsible for intelligence and preparation of data for missile and air strikes on Ukraine, the Suspilne news agency reported.
When Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin staged a short-lived mutiny in June 2023, Lt Gen Alekseyev was one of the top officials sent to negotiate with him.
Several senior Russian officers have been assassinated since the start of the war in Ukraine, with Moscow blaming the attacks on Kyiv. In some cases, Ukrainian military intelligence has claimed responsibility.
The most recent officer to be killed was the head of the General Staff's army training directorate, Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov, who was killed by a bomb under his car on December 22.
The reported attacks took place against the background of US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi. The US and Russia have agreed to re-establish high-level dialogue between their militaries.
Under pressure from US President Donald Trump, European states have been inching towards re-establishing contact with Mr Putin. Media reports said French President Emmanuel Macron sent a senior diplomatic adviser to Moscow on Tuesday to pave the way for direct talks between the French and Russian leaders.
Mr Macron's office said preparations for dialogue with Mr Putin were under way at a "technical level". Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Russian President was ready for a call with Mr Macron, but criticised France's "pathetic diplomacy".
“If you want to talk and talk seriously about something, then call," Mr Lavrov added.
Diplomatic exchanges have increased as Ukraine faces Russian missile attacks on its energy infrastructure, with temperatures dropping to minus 20°C. Russian missile and drone attacks on the capital Kyiv in January have left about a million people without electricity, Ukraine said.
Fighting is raging along the 1,200km front line. Ukrainian shelling inflicted "serious damage" in the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border, the region's governor said early on Friday.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, in a video posted on Telegram after midnight, said city officials were holding an emergency meeting to devise a plan of action.
Ukrainian forces have regularly attacked Belgorod and nearby parts of the region since Russia's February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour.
Separately, the governor of Russia's Bryansk region said Ukraine hit energy facilities using HIMARS missiles and drones, causing power cuts at some settlements.
Russia and Ukraine said last week they had halted strikes on each other's energy infrastructure, but they disagreed on the time frame for the moratorium. The strikes resumed earlier this week.
