Overview

Vladimir Stepanovich Alekseyev is chief of staff and first deputy chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces (GRU), which is Russia’s military intelligence agency. In this role, Alekseyev oversaw alleged Russian intervention in the U.S. presidential elections in 2016 and 2020, Russian military forces’ operations in Syria in 2017, the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in 2018, and the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His military rank is lieutenant general. Alekseyev’s service to the Russian state was acknowledged with multiple military awards, including the Order of St. George, Order of Merit for the Fatherland, Order of Alexander Nevsky, Order of Suvorov, Order of Courage, and Hero of the Russian Federation with a special distinction.

Born in Ukraine, in what was then the Vinnytsia Oblast of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, on April 24, 1961, Alekseyev pursued higher education and established his military career in Russia. He graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in 1984. He served as the head of the intelligence directorate of the Moscow Military District headquarters and, later, the Far Eastern Military District before being transferred to the central office of the GRU. In 2011, he became first deputy chief of the GRU and currently serves in this role. In this role, Alekseyev supervised military intelligence during Russia’s military operations in Syria, and in 2017, he was awarded the title of the Hero of the Russian Federation for his “courage and heroism.”

The United States imposed sanctions on Alekseyev in 2016 for his involvement in planning “malicious cyberattacks” as part of Russia’s attempt to meddle in the U.S. presidential elections. In 2019, Alekseyev orchestrated another interference operation in the 2020 U.S. presidential elections through Rudy Giuliani and the Biden-Ukraine conspiracy theory. He also led a team in Ukraine to spread disinformation and conduct subversive activities. In 2018, Alekseyev oversaw the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, for which he was sanctioned by the European Union in 2019. In 2022, the pro-Kremlin Tsargrad TV Channel identified Alekseyev as the top general for intelligence on Ukraine. Later that year, Canada imposed sanctions on Alekseyev for his role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to Russian media, Alekseyev played a key role in the conflict between Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defense by establishing the rival Redut paramilitary formation in 2023, which attracted many former Wagner Group personnel. During the Wagner Group mutiny that began on June 23, 2023, Alekseyev appeared in a video condemning Prigozhin’s actions as a “coup d’etat” and “a stab in the back of the country and the president.” Recalling that “from the first day of the organization’s existence” he had “performed combat missions with you,” addressing Wagner personnel directly, Alekseyev called on the mutineers to abort their plans. Soon after, Wagner Group-linked social media channels released another video, where Alekseyev, along with Russia’s Deputy Minister of Defense Yunus-bek Yevkurov, negotiated with Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in Rostov-on-Don. During that conversation, Prigozhin stated that he wanted to apprehend Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov and then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, to which Alekseyev responded, “Take them!” Following the rebellion, several high-ranking Russian officers were detained in the Kremlin’s attempt “to weed out officers suspected of disloyalty.” Alekseyev was among those detained but was later released.

In 2023, Wagner-linked media reported that Alekseyev, Yevkurov, and General Sergei Surovikin appeared in “African countries, where the Wagner Group is present.”