Celia Hatton

Vladimir Alekseev has played a significant role in the war on Ukraine, and Russia says Kiev's responsible for the attack on his life.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian soldier who was believed to have died in the war has returned home alive.

More than 30 people have been killed in a suspected suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

Also in this podcast, it's the last day of election campaigning in Thailand.

Our correspondent tells us why the country's progressive party is ahead in the polls, but that might not be enough.

Let's begin in Moscow, where a top Russian general, Vladimir Alekseev, has been rushed to hospital after being shot several times.

There have been a string of attacks on Russian military officials since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago.

This shooting took place in an apartment building in the city's suburbs.

Vladimir Alekseev is the top military official to be targeted so far.

He's a senior figure with Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU.

Alexey has played a significant role during the war in Ukraine.

Back in 2022, he took part in talks with Kiev during the Russian siege of Mariupol.

A year later, he was dispatched to negotiate with the head of the Wagner mercenary group after its soldiers triggered an unsuccessful uprising against Russia's government.

Christo Grozev is head of investigations at the news website The Insider and a specialist on the Russian military and intelligence services.

My colleague Tim Frank spoke with him and asked him what we know about General Alekseev.

Crystal Grozev, head of investigations at the news website The Insider, and a specialist on the Russian military and intelligence services.

Well, Russia and Ukraine carried out a rare exchange of prisoners of war and civilians on Thursday after two days of peace talks in Abu Dhabi.

In total, more than 300 individuals were exchanged.

It was joyous news for the relatives of those allowed to go home, particularly for one Ukrainian family.

Here's the moment one soldier's mother, who thought he had died, heard from her son on the phone.