Putin’s general who was shot was behind the infamous Salisbury poisonings

General Vladimir Alexeiev, a key ally of Vladimir Putin, is believed to have been involved in several international incidents, including the 2018 Salisbury poisonings

It is reported that a Russian general shot outside Moscow today was responsible for the Salisbury poisonings that killed a British national.

Putin ally Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeiev, 64, was left with “three bullets in his chest” today on the Volokolamsk highway, northwest of the Russian capital, in a daylight attack carried out at 7am. The Kremlin stooge was leaving his 24th-floor apartment when he was shot by an assailant who rushed from the scene, and was rushed to hospital.

In addition to being a disciple of the Russian despot and playing a key role in Ukraine, spy chief Alexeev is believed to have been behind the deadly 2018 Salisbury poisonings targeting two former ghosts that caused the tragic death of Dawn Sturgess.

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According to Russian media, Alexeiev was responsible for gathering intelligence about the bombings in Ukraine and organizing ‘referenda’ in areas occupied by Putin’s forces. The shooting left locals shocked. A bystander described the moment they heard cries for help.

They said: “I heard a shot and cries of ‘help’. I went outside and he was lying there covered in blood, and a neighbor shouted, ‘Call an ambulance, he has a gunshot wound’.”

It was reported that the general had helped orchestrate the plan in which two Russian agents traveled to Britain and attempted to kill Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia. British investigators discovered that Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov had spread the military-grade chemical weapon Novichok on the door handle of the couple’s Salisbury home.

The gun, which was in a perfume bottle, was later recovered by Charles Rowley, who believed he was giving his partner Mrs Sturgess a welcome gift before the two fell unwell in Amesbury. Mrs Sturgess died from the exposure, while Mr Rowley recovered, and both Skripals also later recovered from their assassination attempt.

Alexeiev was accused by the United Kingdom and the European Union of pulling the strings of the Russia operation, and was sanctioned by the US in 2016 after being accused of overseeing “malicious cyber activity” during the US presidential election. He has been praised in Russia by Putin, who awarded the international threat the Hero of the Russian Federation award for “courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duties.”

Alexeev himself may now have been the subject of an assassination attempt, with Russian authorities investigating the incident as a possible Ukrainian or internal attack. Svetlana Petrenko, of Russia’s Investigative Committee, said it has opened an investigation into attempted murder, adding: “The victim has been admitted to one of the city’s hospitals.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had been briefed on the shooting, adding: “We first of all wish that the general survives and recovers. We hope that will be the case.”