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Thousands of units of M&M's products are being recalled across more than a dozen states because their packaging does not include proper allergen warnings.

The recall wasannounced by the Food & Drug Administrationafter it emerged that more than 6,000 units had been repackaged by Beacon Promotions Inc. without advisories that they may contain milk, soy and peanuts.

It was first issued on January 26, and on Wednesday, the FDA classified the recall as Class II, meaning consuming the product could cause "temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences."

However, the recall only affects consumers who may beallergic or sensitive to soy, peanuts or milk; the candies themselves are safe to eat, and those without allergies will not be affected by their consumption.

The M&M's in question were distributed in packaging that was labelled for promotional purposes,according to the FDA,and could contain any of the following promotional labels or packages:

Next Up; Smith Pro; Jaxport, Jacksonville Port Authority; Climax Molybdenum, A Freeport-McMoRan Company; University of Maryland, School of Public Policy; Liberty University Environmental Health & Safety; Subaru; Trinity Cyb3r; Candy Treats; JSE, Jordan & Skala Engineers; Dropbox DocSend; PP, Prosperity Promotions; Northwest Indian College Foundation; FES Branding Solutions; Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies; merry maids Annual 26 Conference; BW, Best Western; Morgan Stanley; tufin; Compliments of Pioneer; A.D. Morgan, Construction Manager, Design Builder, General Contractor; Adobe; Xfinity; Fundermax Interiors; White Cup; Acadia Commercial; Aviagen; ORG Expo; and Make Your Mark.

The recalled repackaged M&M's Peanut candies can be identified by the "Make Your Mark" label with lot code M1823200 and a "best by" date of April 30, 2026.

Regular M&M's candies being recalled all have the lot code L450ARCLV03 with a "best by" date of December 1, 2025; the lot code L502FLHKP01 with a "best by" date of January 1, 2026; the lot code L523CMHKP01 with a "best by" date of June 30, 2026; or the lot code L537GMHKP01 with a "best by" date of September 1, 2026.

They were distributed in the following 20 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Anyone who has the products in question and is allergic to or sensitive to nuts, soy, or milk should throw them away. Those who are not allergic or sensitive can safely consume them.

HPG Brands, the parent company of Beacon Promotions Inc., did not immediately respond to requests for comment on how the labelling mix-up had occurred.

More than an hour before dawn, on a pitch-black street lined with heaps of Minnesota snow, 10-year-old Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano and her mother headed out to her school bus stop – just like they do every weekday at 6:10 a.m.

Out of nowhere, federal agents' vehicles surrounded the family's car in suburban Minneapolis. Elizabeth thought the agents were going to take her to school, her father told CNN.

Instead, the aspiring doctor and her mother were detained and flown 1,200 miles away to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas – with the young girl's future up in the air.

Over the next month, at least five other kids from her small school district were also sent across the country to Dilley – including5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos.

"There are other students with whom we have lost contact who might also be in a detention facility," spokesperson Kristen Stuenkel said.

The children's plight has sparked renewed criticism over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota, known asOperation Metro Surge, which has alsoensnared children and separated family members.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson firmly denied accusations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are trying to detain students.

"ICE does NOT target children or schools. That is not how it works," DHS said. "ICE keeps families together."

'ICE is going to drop me off at school'

On the bitterly cold morning of January 6, Elizabeth and her mother were driving to her school bus stop when federal agents intercepted the family's car and blocked it with their own vehicles, Elizabeth's father Luis Zuna said.

A witness captured the encounter on camera as multiple agents surrounded the family's car.

Elizabeth called her father, who was at his construction job, and said they had been stopped by ICE. But she told her father what sounded like reassuring words.

"She said, 'ICE is going to drop me off at school,'" Luis said. "So I thought, OK, they will drop her off at school, and we hung up."

But when Luis later called his daughter and didn't get an answer, he panicked and rushed to find her.

"He was here at school by 7:30 a.m. looking for her," Highland Elementary secretary Carolina Gutierrez said. "I know that because we open our school doors at 7:25, and he was the first person at my window."

Luis and school social worker Tracy Xiong hoped the ICE vehicle just hadn't arrived yet.

"Several staff members, including myself, waited outside the school building for a vehicle to approach and drop her off. No one ever came," Xiong said.

"That morning turned into hours of phone calls, desperately trying to locate a child. We did everything we could to keep Elizabeth's father calm and allowed him to remain at school as we searched for answers. By that afternoon, we had learned that Elizabeth and her mother were already taken to Texas."

DHS said parents "are asked (if) they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates.

"This is consistent with past administration's immigration enforcement," the agency said.

The agony of not knowing what would happen to his wife and only child overwhelmed Luis, Xiong said.

"In my profession, I have seen many people break down and grieve," she said. "But the image of Elizabeth's father will stay with me forever. I watched him sit in his car, bury his head in his hands and cry uncontrollably. Those are images you do not forget."

Two boys discover another schoolmate detained

Over the next several weeks, as Elizabeth languished in detention, at least six other children from her school district made the same cross-country journey from Minnesota to the Dilley detention center, Stuenkel said.

On January 29, a second-grade boy and a fifth-grade boy from Valley View Elementary joined their mother as they were taken away to Texas, the school district said.

"Their mother went to have her regularly scheduled immigration meeting," Stuenkel said. "As she was leaving it, ICE picked her up. Her two boys were at school at Valley View, and she called the school and asked the principal to bring her sons to her at the Whipple (Federal) Building here in Minnesota, where she was being held."

The family spent almost a week detained. On Wednesday, after outcry from school officials, the siblings and their mother were released from Dilley and returned to Minnesota.

And the boys reported a startling discovery in the Texas ICE facility – a schoolmate had been detained without the school district's knowledge.

"While the family was at the Dilley detention facility, the boys recognized another Valley View student in the cafeteria," Stuenkel said.

"This fifth-grade girl, her mother and stepfather had last been in contact with Valley View Elementary on January 9," she said. "School staff have been trying to reach them since that time and did not know where they were."

The fifth-grade girl is still detained at Dilley, along with a 17-year-old girl who was taken by agents along with her mother from their apartment complex last month, Stuenkel said.

DHS said it can't comment on cases without specific details about the children or their parents. But the school district said it could not release some of the detained students' names because they don't have written permission from their parents to do so – and in these cases, the parents are detained with their children.

Several other children from the school district have been released – including Liam, the preschooler who made national headlines after he and his father were taken away by agents from the driveway of their home.

Hours before Liam was detained, a 17-year-old Columbia Heights High School student on his way to school was also taken away by agents and sent to Texas, Stuenkel said. The teen has since been released and has declined to speak publicly about his case.

A young girl thought her 'dream was over'

Elizabeth's journey started in an impoverished, rural part of Ecuador, where her parents knew she would have little opportunity to thrive, her father said.

"The conditions were really tough. There were a lot of thieves, bad crime conditions," Luis said.

He said discrimination against indigenous people like him was rampant, particularly in some urban areas.

"We lived in the countryside, and we went down to the city one time, and that's when they attacked me – they almost killed me," he said, showing scars still visible on his face.

"So after they threatened me, that's when we decided to come here and seek asylum."

Luis, his wife Rosa and their daughter Elizabeth sought asylum in the US in 2020. The family followed all proper protocols, including attending every required hearing, immigration attorney Bobby Painter said.

But in September 2025, in the midst of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, a judge denied asylum for the family and issued a removal order, Painter said. The family promptly appealed the decision, and the case has been under appeal ever since, the attorney said.

In a statement to CNN, DHS said Elizabeth's mother "is an illegal alien from Ecuador with a final order of removal — meaning she was given full due process."

"Officers conducted a vehicle stop to arrest the illegal alien. Upon discovering a child was in the car, officers allowed her to make phone calls to place the child in the custody of someone she designated," DHS said. "She failed to find a trusted adult to care for the child, so officers kept the family together for the welfare of the child."

During the hourslong plane ride from Minnesota to Texas, Elizabeth was riddled with fear that she would be sent to Ecuador, said Gutierrez, a family spokesperson. Given the family's rural, impoverished community in Ecuador and limited access to education, Elizabeth later told her dad she thought her "dream was over."

'It's like they're stalking everybody'

Columbia Heights Public Schools is a tiny district of 3,400 students just north of Minneapolis. But the population seemingly swelled when federal agents descended on the area as part ofOperation Metro Surge.

"ICE is so prevalent in our community and it's like they're stalking everybody," Stuenkel said. "You can't even imagine how bad it is, because it's such an immigrant community. Over 51% of our students' home language is Spanish," and other immigrant families come from East Africa or Asia.

The school district has reported "ICE agents (who) have been roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our kids."

At one school, "an ICE vehicle drove onto school property and came up to our high school loading dock, with no business being there. They were told to leave by the high school administration," CHPS said.

"Last week we had three students driving (separately) that got pulled over by ICE," Stuenkel said. All of those students were carrying their US passports and were released.

"But imagine if you were driving to work and three police cars pulled you over … let alone being a 16- or 17-year-old student on your way to school, and ICE is pulling you over," Stuenkel said. "How do you concentrate at school?"

Elizabeth and her mom are back home in Minnesota

This week, one month after federal agents took Elizabeth to Texas instead of school, she and her mother returned to Minnesota, Painter and Gutierrez told CNN.

"We're still not clear on the exact reason" of their release, Painter said Thursday afternoon. CNN has asked DHS about what prompted Elizabeth's and Rosa's release Wednesday.

Gutierrez spoke with the family after they returned and said they're looking forward to "quality time together with privacy and peace."

But the family's legal journey is not over, as they continue appealing their asylum case. Gutierrez established aGoFundMe accountto help offset the family's expenses.

Elizabeth's school social worker, who has seen the impact of agents' actions on students, called for the detainment of children to stop.

"Children belong in schools, not in detention," Xiong said. "No child should ever disappear on her way to school."

CNN's Maria Aguilar and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.

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Cecilia "Cile" Steward's parents threw her a ninth birthday party last month, but one person wasn't there: the birthday girl herself.

Ever since Cile was swept away by the floodwaters that swamped Camp Mystic in the Texas Hill Country last summer, her mother has been coping with her grief by writing her daughter a letter every day.

Meanwhile, her father has been keeping tabs on the ongoing search by Texas authorities for her remains, and he's feeling less hopeful by the day.

"I have this sinking feeling of there's no way they're ever gonna find her," Will Steward said when he and his wife, CiCi Steward, sat down for an emotional "TODAY" interview this week with their long-time friend and fellow Texan, show co-host Jenna Bush Hager.

Cile was among the 130 people who were killed July 4 after slow-moving thunderstorms in Kerr County, Texas, caused the Guadalupe to overflow its banks, turning a meandering river into a terrifying torrent.

Cile, 8 years old at the time, was one of the 27 children and counselors at Camp Mystic, a venerable Christian summer camp for girls, who perished in the flood.

But unlike the other victims, Cile's body was never found.

"I write to her every day. I tell her how sorry I am that this happened to her. I'm sorry that her life was stolen from her," CiCi Steward told Bush Hager, her voice cracking.

"Despite the fact that I bawl crying every time I write to her, that is how I stay close to her," she said. "We look at her pictures daily. Thank God for the phones and the amount of photos and videos we have. A blessing and a curse, really."

The Stewards spoke with Bush Hager, with whom they've been friends for more than 20 years, on the same day they filed a lawsuit against the Eastland family, which has operated the all-girls camp for decades, in Travis County, Texas.

"They were completely unprepared," the couple's lawyer, Brad Beckworth, said of the Eastlands.

Despite the camp being in a flood plain and having a well-documented history of flooding, the Eastland family had a bare-bones emergency evacuation plan, and they repeatedly ignored the National Weather Service flooding alerts, the Stewards contend in their lawsuit.

So by the time they started evacuating the girls from the flooded cabins, it was already too late, the suit states.

"It's just absolute chaos," Beckworth told Bush Hager. "When you talk to the counselors, they can hear the screams. Nobody knows what to do. They don't know where to go."

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The victims included Richard "Dick" Eastland, the owner of Camp Mystic. His family says he lost his life trying to save the girls.

The Stewards contend in the lawsuit that Eastland and his son, Edward Eastland, waited for more than an hour before they tried to evacuate the girls from the cabins.

They insisted in their interview with Bush Hager that it was the camp counselors and first responders who deserve the praise for saving most of the 750 girls who were at Camp Mystic when the flooding started.

"There are heroes at Camp Mystic and none of them are named Eastland," CiCi Steward said.

The Austin couple is seeking in excess of $1 million in actual and punitive damages, according to the lawsuit.

In response to the lawsuit, the Eastlands' lawyer Mikal Watts said they "intend to demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of floodwaters far exceeded any previous flood in the area by several magnitudes, that it was unexpected and unforeseeable, and that no adequate early warning flood systems existed in the area."

The Stewards said they're furious the Eastland family is trying to get back into business while their daughter remains missing.

"It is an active crime scene," CiCi Steward said. "I don't know anyone in their right mind that would willingly send their child to an active crime scene."

"With the same leadership," Will Steward said, completing his wife's thought. "We're not opposed to children going to camp. We're opposed to the Eastlands, the audacity of sending out deposit slips when our child, one of their campers, who they've professed to love in this community, is still missing."

The couple's lawyer, Brad Beckworth, agreed.

"It's a rush to reopen without everybody knowing the facts of what happened," he said. "And, I mean, I can tell you as a parent, my children would never go back to a camp operated by this family."

Three days after the deadly flood last summer,Bush Hager went on "TODAY"and revealed that her mother, former first lady Laura Bush, had once been a camp counselor at Camp Mystic.

"But also, so many of my friends were raised at this camp," Bush Hager said. "Texas [summer] camps are institutions where many family members, generations — this camp was 100 years old — so grandmothers, mothers, kids have all gone there."

Speaking with the Stewards, Bush Hager asked CiCi Steward to read the statement the couple had prepared before the interview.

"Our hearts are shattered," the grieving mother read. "Our souls are scrambled. But we have no choice other than to fight for Cile and the other 26 girls' lives to have not been taken in vain. They deserve better."

TheSuper Bowlcan't come soon enough for supporters of the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots. New York Jets fans, however, might choose to skip the game altogether.

They'll witness one of two scenarios play out Sunday: Either their former quarterback and presumed savior of the franchise, Sam Darnold, will lead Seattle to its first NFL championship since 2014 or New England, their hated rival, will add to its stuffed trophy case.

For Jordan Kamzan, a 34-year-old from Long Beach, New York, it's not a difficult choice.

"It could be anyone playing the Patriots," he said, "I would be cheering for him."

Connor Hughes, an NFL reporter who covers the Jets and New York Giants for SNY, put it more bluntly.

"If the Patriots win the Super Bowl, that's when the whole world will just come crashing down on the Jets fan."

The rivalry between the two teams dates to 1960, when both franchises played in the American Football League. It continued once the league merged with the NFL in 1970 and the Jets and Patriots squared off multiple times a year as members of the AFC East.

While the Patriots lead the all-time series 77–56–1, New England has been even more dominant in recent seasons. Since 2000, the Patriots are 40-12 in regular-season games. They also boast six Super Bowl wins and 18 divisional titles over that span.

Jets fans thought theirrival's reign was overwhen legendary quarterback Tom Brady left the franchise in 2020 and coach Bill Belichick parted ways in 2024, but they were wrong. Just two years later, the Patriots areback in the Super Bowl. And they now have a young stud quarterback and coach who figure to cause problems for the foreseeable future.

Drake Maye, a second-year signal-caller out of North Carolina, is in the NFL MVP conversation after taking a 4-13 team last season to the title game. He threw for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns and only eight interceptions this year. New head coach Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker who won three Super Bowls as a player, has also been instrumental in the quick turnaround.

The worst part is that the Jets nearly had Vrabel themselves.

"They did everything they could to get him," Hughes said. "So much so that when he was driving to take the Patriots job, they called him and was basically like, 'Is there anything we can do to get you out of that car? Is there anything we can do to get you to take our job? We'll give you more money. We'll give you full control. We'll do anything to get you over here.'"

Vrabel didn't budge. The Jets were forced to pivot to former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who led New York to a 3-14 season in his first year.

"So they are sitting there stuck with Aaron Glenn coming off a three-win season, picking second overall (in the upcoming NFL draft) and having absolutely no hope," Hughes added.

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New York has not made the playoffs in 15 straight seasons.

"People can say they are lovable losers, but they are not even that," Kamzan said. "What's there to love?"

Jets fans thought things would turn around in 2018 when they drafted Darnold at No. 3 overall. Instead, Darnold went 13-25 as a starting quarterback and had multiple bizarre incidents off the field that turned into viral memes.

One was when a graphic was shared of Darnold with the words "Out Indefinitely: Mononucleosis" next to him, which was mocked online.

Another was when Darnold said he was "seeing ghosts" while wearing a live microphone during a 33-0 loss to the Patriots on "Monday Night Football" in 2019. Both teams' fans still bring up the now-famous line.

He left the team after the 2020 season and was considered by many to be a bust.

But despite the lackluster play, many fans and analysts don't place the blame squarely on Darnold.

"Everything you could possibly do to make a quarterback fail is pretty much what the Jets did," Hughes said. "You can look at the players he was throwing to, to the guys that were blocking for him and the coaching. It was all bad. … I don't think there was ever a world, when you really look at it, where Sam has success with the Jets."

He always had promise in the league if those other aspects — better talent around him, an offensive coach who can make the game easier — came together. And he's proven that since.

Darnold, after a brief stint as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers, has thrived as a starter with the Minnesota Vikings and now the Seahawks. He was efficient all season, passing for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns, and has found a perfect connection with elite receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

In the NFC championship against the Los Angeles Rams, Darnold completed nearly 70% of his passes for 346 yards and three scores with no interceptions.

"It's hard not to feel good for the guy," Corey Celt, a 36-year-old from Commack, New York, said. "As a Jets fan, I don't hold any hard feelings against Darnold. It's a choice between the Patriots and Sam Darnold, and I think picking Sam Darnold is an easy one."

Kamzan didn't hesitate when asked if there are "what-ifs" surrounding Darnold.

"Of course. There's the what-if of, 'If we just had better management, could this guy have been the franchise quarterback?' But what are you going to do? It's the Jets."

For No. 9 Nebraska, a midweek bye in the middle of a difficult Big Ten Conference schedule couldn't have come at a better time.

"We need to get right, get better," Cornhuskers coach Fred Hoiberg said. "It comes at a good time for us to get our guys that have been banged up to get them right."

After following 20 straight wins with back-to-back losses to top 10 teams Michigan and Illinois, Nebraska will try to get back into the win column Saturday when it travels to Piscataway, N.J. for another conference clash with Rutgers.

The Cornhuskers (20-2, 9-2 Big 10) haven't played since the aforementioned 78-69 home defeat to Illinois on Sunday. They made 15 of 35 3-pointers but didn't generate enough inside offense, managing just five free throw attempts and getting outrebounded 40-27.

Hoiberg took a postgame swipe at the officials, saying that he felt Nebraska's halfcourt offense was being hindered by non-calls.

"Freedom of movement, that's gotta be enforced," Hoiberg said. "We run a pretty aesthetically pleasing offense but when you're being held, you can't run it. We are going to continue to try and do it and cut with force and do everything we can to get these guys open but it's tough at times when you're out there."

A healthier Rienk Mast should aid the Cornhuskers. Mast didn't play at Michigan after becoming ill and didn't play well against the Illini, hitting just 2 of 10 shots in 25 minutes and finishing with only five points.

Mast is second on the team in scoring at 14.1 ppg, with Pryce Sandfort tallying 17.2 on 47.5% field goal shooting.

While Nebraska has gotten time to rest and reload, Rutgers (9-14, 2-10) still is licking its wounds from a 98-66 blowout loss Tuesday night at UCLA. The

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Scarlet Knights have dropped six straight games, plagued by an inability to consistently get stops.

Rutgers has allowed 85 ppg during the skid and resembled a sieve against UCLA, permitting a ridiculous 1.55 points per possession. That's a 180-degree turn from the defense-first identity the program's boasted during coach Steve Pikiell's 10 years.

"We're young - we have seven freshmen and 10 newcomers - so we're learning," Pikiell said. "You hope they grow and learn that practices matter. Film watching and scouting reports matter. It's a long season and sometimes, guys lose focus on what needs to be done."

First-shot defense has been an issue for the Scarlet Knights, who are allowing opponents to hit 45.7 % from the field and 37.9 % of 3-pointers. By contrast,

Rutgers is making just 40.7 % from the field and only 32.2 % from the 3-point line.

Tariq Francis is scoring a team-high 16.5 ppg for the Scarlet Knights, while Dylan Grant is contributing 10.8. Troubles on the glass haven't helped as

Rutgers is getting outrebounded by two per game.

The good news for the Scarlet Knights is that their schedule, which has featured a spate of likely NCAA tournament participants during their slide, eases considerably after Saturday. They play only one ranked team - Michigan State - in their last seven games.

--Field Level Media

Purdue senior guard Fletcher Loyer shook a shooting slump in a big way last weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, his teammates will look to feed off that persistence as the No. 12 Boilermakers face struggling Oregon in West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue (18-4, 8-3 Big Ten) stopped a three-game losing streak with a 93-63 road rout of Maryland on Sunday.

Loyer led the charge with 29 points, which included a 7-for-10 effort from long range. It was a welcome development after he shot just 4 of 15 from deep as the Boilermakers lost to UCLA, Illinois and Indiana by a 13 combined points to close January.

"It's just a win for the team," said Loyer, who is averaging 13.2 points per game this season. "Obviously, you want to make shots, but when it's not going in, it's staying confident and keep moving forward."

Braden Smith followed with 19 points on Sunday and has scored in double figures in 11 straight games entering play against the Ducks (8-4, 1-10).

Still, the Boilermakers know Loyer can provide equal consistency when he's clicking -- and his rhythm typically doesn't stray far for long.

Loyer has 252 made 3-pointers in his career, 29 shy of matching the program record set by Carsen Edwards.

"He's been here for four years," teammate Trey Kaufman-Renn said of Loyer. "We know how good of a shooter he is; we see it every day. It's just trying to get him as many open shots as possible. As a teammate, that's what I'm looking at. If he can catch the ball and shoot the ball, that's the shot we want."

Kaufman-Renn notched a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds to boost visiting Purdue to a 65-58 victory against Oregon on Jan. 18, 2025. The first meeting between the schools as Big Ten rivals marked a matchup between Top 20 programs, but the Ducks have sputtered this season.

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Sunday's 84-66 home loss to Iowa extended Oregon's season-high losing streak to eight games, with the past seven defeats coming by double digits.

Injuries sidelined Nate Bittle, Ege Demir, Devon Pryor and Jackson Shelstad vs. Iowa, as Shelstad (hand) and Demir (shoulder) remain out for the season.

"Anything I say, it makes it sound like excuses, you know," Ducks coach Dana Altman said.

While Bittle (foot), the team's leading scorer at 16.3 points a game, returned to practice this week, a return timeframe to game action is uncertain.

Kwame Evans Jr. led the way against Iowa with 18 points in a contest that saw the first start of senior walk-on guard Drew Carter, a one-time Colorado football player.

Altman this week chastised himself for not cultivating more depth on a team seeking its first victory since Jan. 2 at Maryland, Oregon's only win in league play.

Takai Simpkins, who had 16 points Sunday, has provided a steady hand during the slide, finishing in double figures in five of the seven games in which he has played.

As Altman aims to avoid his career-worst losing streak of nine games, set during his first season at Creighton in 1994-95, he's clear that the Ducks' struggles haven't dampened his passion.

"You do this as long as I have, there's always ups and downs," Altman, 67, said. "This is a big down, but I still like coaching, still want to coach. I still enjoy going to the gym every day. Got a great staff. So, no, it doesn't change how I feel about it."

--Field Level Media

A Russian general serving as deputy head of Russian military intelligence was shot and seriously wounded in Moscow on Friday, officials said – the latest in a series of attacks on top military figures.

An unknown attacker fired several shots at Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev in a residential building on Volokolamskoye Highway in Moscow and fled the scene, a Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson said in a statement.

The Russian Investigative Committee said its officers are at the scene and investigators are searching for the shooter. The committee has opened a criminal case into what it called the attempted murder of a high-ranking defense ministry official.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Ukrainian government of being behind the attempted murder of Alekseyev, without citing evidence.

Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the shooting.

Alekseyev has been transferred to a city hospital, the Investigative Committee statement said. He is in intensive care and in a serious condition following the shooting, according to Russian state media.

Alekseyev, 64, is the first deputy head of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, the GRU. The Russian general was one of several GRU officials sanctioned by the United States in 2016 for wide-ranging malicious cyber activity directed at undermining US democratic processes.

He was also sanctioned by the European Union in January 2019 following anerve agent attackin Salisbury, England, which the British government said was carried out by GRU agents to poison a former Russian spy. The EU sanctions describe Alekseyev as "responsible for the possession, transport and use in Salisbury… of the toxic nerve agent 'Novichok' by officers from the GRU," along with sanctioned Russian military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.

Alexseyev has had significant involvement in the war in Ukraine, serving as one of Russia's negotiators in thesecret talkswith a member of the Ukrainian parliament to end Russia's 2022 siege of the strategic city of Mariupol, Ukraine.

A Ukrainian intelligence report on Alexseyev claims he has been responsible for "the organization of the preparation of initial data for launching missile and air strikes on Ukrainian territory," including on civilian targets, as well as being responsible for theillegal referendain the occupied Ukrainian territories. Ukraine has also accused him of war crimes in Syria.

In 2023, Alekseyev was sent by the Russian military to negotiate withYevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private mercenary group, during the Wagner group's mutiny. At the time, he called Prigozhin's actions a coup as well as "a stab in the back of the country and the president."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a Friday press briefing that the intelligence services were investigating the attack and would report any findings to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He added: "We wish the general survival and recovery."

"It is clear that such military leaders and highly qualified specialists are at risk during a war," Peskov said when asked about the security of military officials' residences. "That's a matter for the intelligence services."

A neighbor of Alekseyev told Reuters that she heard several shots around 6:30 a.m. local time Friday. The woman, who only gave her first name as Alexandra, said she "woke up because of shots" and rushed outside the residential building alongside other neighbors. Another resident had already called police, who arrived by 7 a.m., she said.

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Several prominent Russians have been killed by explosive devices or shot dead in Moscow inattacksblamed on the Ukrainian security services since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russian strikes continue

Friday's shooting in Moscow comes one day after Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators met for trilateral talks in the United Arab Emirates, where the Russian delegation was led by their military intelligence chief Kostyukov.

The Kremlin on Friday described the trilateral talks as "both constructive and challenging."

Ukraine's negotiation team also said the talks were "truly constructive" in a comment to news agency RBC-Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said they'd "agreed that the next meeting will be held in the near future."

But beyond a prisoner swap that took place on Thursday, which saw 314 POWs exchanged, no major breakthroughs were announced by either side.

Despite the diplomatic engagement, Russia's attacks on Ukraine have continued this week.

At least three Ukrainian people were killed and 15 people injured in Russian attacks within the last day, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday. Russia launched two ballistic missiles, five cruise missiles and hundreds of drones overnight into Friday, hitting the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Kharkiv.

In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian attack on Friday heavily damaged an animal shelter, according to the city council, which released video showing several animals injured or killed.

Throughout the winter – the coldest one Ukraine has experienced in 20 years – Russia's military has also intensified itsassault on the country's energy sector.

In the capital Kyiv, where temperatures are below freezing on Friday, 1,100 high-rise residential buildings remain without power, according to local authorities. In the two districts of Kyiv that have been hit hard by attacks on energy infrastructure, about half the schools are operating without heat.

"The Kremlin is doubling down on war crimes, deliberately striking homes and civilian infrastructure," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday, as she announced the EU is tabling its 20th package of sanctions against Russia.

"This is not the conduct of a state seeking peace. It is the behaviour of a nation waging a war of attrition against a civilian innocent population," von der Leyen said.

This is story has been updated with developments.

CNN's Victoria Butenko and Svitlana Vlasova contributed to this report.

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