Secret funeral is held for top Putin war commander killed in Moscow ‘assassination’ bomb blast at birthday party
A secret funeral has been held for Lt-Gen Igor Yerusalimov, a senior Russian commander killed in a suspected Ukrainian assassination plot at a birthday party in Moscow. The 53-year-old died when a bomb, allegedly disguised as a gift and delivered by a female courier, exploded at the upmarket Balzi Rossi restaurant just over a mile from the Kremlin, during celebrations for Col-Gen Alexander Chayko's 55th birthday. The attack underscores the increasingly bold nature of suspected Ukrainian strikes against senior Russian military figures deep inside the country, and highlights the risks facing officials tied to units accused of war crimes.
The blast, reportedly caused by a homemade device packed with metal balls and equivalent to 1kg of TNT, killed five people, including Yerusalimov and Chayko's son-in-law Daniil Peredriy, and injured 19 others, among them Chayko's daughter Maria, who suffered a serious brain injury. Chayko himself, head of Russia's Aerospace Forces and accused by Ukraine of war crimes over the 2022 Bucha massacre, was reportedly unhurt. Yerusalimov, twice promoted by Vladimir Putin and formerly deputy chief of staff of the Moscow Military District, was buried under guard at Troekurovskoye cemetery, with the Kremlin initially withholding victims' identities.
- Russian general Igor Yerusalimov killed in suspected Ukrainian bomb plot in Moscow
- Blast at birthday party for Aerospace Forces chief Alexander Chayko killed five
- Yerusalimov buried in secret, guarded funeral at Moscow cemetery
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Russia's war in Ukraine has produced a number of senior military figures with prominent public profiles, some of whom have died in unexplained explosions or attacks on Russian soil since the invasion began in 2022. Such deaths are often reported by Russian and Ukrainian sources with conflicting explanations, ranging from accidents to deliberate assassination, and firm evidence is frequently hard to come by.
President Vladimir Putin's government has generally kept details of these incidents tightly controlled, with limited independent media access inside Russia making it difficult to verify circumstances surrounding deaths, funerals or any official response. Ukraine has previously been linked by some observers to attacks on Russian military and security figures, though it does not always claim responsibility.
These incidents matter because they can signal tensions or vulnerabilities linked to the war, and they are closely watched for what they might reveal about security within Russia and the risks faced by those associated with its military leadership.