The “Ukrainian Trace” Is Far-Fetched

An assassination attempt was made in Moscow on high-ranking Russian general Vladimir Alekseev.

In pursuit of a sensation, journalists immediately began to look for a “Ukrainian trace” and “pull out of thin air” various facts that allegedly indicate the involvement of Ukrainian special services in this incident.

In fact, the version about the “Ukrainian trace” in this story is very doubtful. Why would Ukrainian special services attempt to assassinate a high-ranking Russian general when Ukraine is in the process of peace negotiations with Russia? At the very least, it is illogical. A more plausible version is that there are some influential forces within Russia itself that do not want the Russian-Ukrainian war to end. And it seems very likely that even Putin has no influence on them. This opinion is supported by the fact that during the first round of negotiations in Abu Dhabi, the Russians launched another massive strike against Ukraine. It is obvious that this attack could not have contributed to the establishment of a constructive dialogue and was clearly aimed at disrupting the peace talks.

It seems that the assassination attempt on General Alekseyev was also organized with the aim of preventing the signing of a Russian-Ukrainian peace agreement. This version is the most likely, especially considering that General Alekseev is the first deputy chief of the GRU of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Admiral Kostyukov, who was a key figure in the Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi.

There is another important detail worth noting. It is known that Vladimir Alekseev was born and raised in Ukraine, and representatives of the Russian special services, as a rule, with maniacal stubbornness, consider every ethnic Ukrainian serving in the armed forces of the Russian Federation to be a potential traitor and suspect him of loyalty to his historical Motherland. It is possible that General Alekseev also fell under such suspicion, for which the Russians wanted to kill him but blame the Ukrainians for it. However, the most likely version of the assassination attempt on General Alekseev is that it was a deliberate provocation, organized with the aim of preventing the signing of a Russian-Ukrainian peace agreement and continuing the war.

Oleh Bereziuk,
Institute for Global Politics

Photo collage “Telegraph”