Overview
- A homemade explosive detonated at the Balzi Rossi restaurant on Saturday, August 1 during Col‑Gen Alexander Chayko’s 55th birthday, killing five people and injuring nine, according to reporting.
- Lt‑Gen Igor Yerusalimov, 53, was reported killed and was later given a secret, high‑security burial at Troekurovskoye cemetery, with authorities withholding full casualty identities.
- Reports say a female courier stopped while carrying a ‘gift’ for Chayko may have been used unknowingly as the carrier of the device and that a security officer was also killed.
- Col‑Gen Chayko was reported unhurt, his daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury and his son‑in‑law later died from blast wounds, highlighting the attack’s civilian and familial toll.
- Coverage relies heavily on law‑enforcement‑linked Telegram channels and unnamed sources, responsibility for the blast remains unverified, and analysts note the killing fits a wider pattern of senior Russian military deaths since 2022.