A bomb explosion at Moscow restaurant Balzi Rossi killed five people and injured 21 at a birthday party for General Alexander Chaiko on August 1. Radio Svoboda reported that the target remains unknown, but evidence points to a celebration for Chaiko, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces who turned 55 on July 27.
Official reports and newspaper Kommersant state that a female courier carrying the bomb, a security guard who detained her, and one guest died at the scene. Newspaper Izvestia reported that two more victims died later in hospital.
Chaiko's 27-year-old son-in-law, Danylo Peredrii, may be among the dead. Media outlet Agentstvo noted that a business owned by Peredrii ceased operations on August 1 due to the owner's death. Peredrii married Chaiko's daughter in June 2025 at the Villa Rotonda in Deauville near Odintsovo.
Casualties and Relatives Injured
Casualty records indicate Chaiko's 25-year-old daughter, Maria Chaiko, suffered an open traumatic brain injury. Media outlet Astra reported that her aunt, Galina Pliskina, was also injured and taken with Maria to Hospital No. 1 named after N. I. Pirogov in Moscow. Outlet Verstka added that Chaiko's wife's niece, Yevdokiya Kyrylova, may have been wounded.
Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported that Major General Valery Plokhotnyuk was buried at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in Moscow on August 5. Outlet Mediazona confirmed state registry data showing Plokhotnyuk died on August 1, the day of the explosion.
Plokhotnyuk previously headed Russian troops in Transnistria, became major general in 2021, and served as chief of staff for the 49th Combined Arms Army in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Leak data links Plokhotnyuk and Chaiko to a shared address in Naro-Fominsk, and Agentstvo reported their wives maintained contact.
Military Connections and Bombing Details
Ukrainian OSINT blogger Necro Mancer reported an unconfirmed farewell ceremony on August 4 in Solntsevo for Lieutenant General Igor Yerusalimov. Systema found Yerusalimov and Chaiko may have served together. Yerusalimov's father, Felix Yerusalimov, led the political department of the 11th Tank Division in Dresden during the 1980s, where Chaiko's father, Yuri Chaiko, also served.
Radio Svoboda found a May 9, 1985 photograph showing Felix Yerusalimov with a young Captain V. V. Putin visiting division headquarters in Dresden. Investigators could not confirm whether the fathers knew each other.
The Balzi Rossi restaurant was closed for a private banquet. Initial reports cited a gas leak, but the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee confirmed an improvised explosive device detonated at the entrance. Eyewitnesses reported cars with black military license plates and a Rosgvardia bus outside.
Chaiko was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces in May. He previously commanded troops in the Bucha massacre and faces war crimes charges in Ukraine.
