The commander of Russia's Aerospace Forces was the target of a bombing at a Moscow restaurant that killed three people and wounded 21 others, according to Telegram channels cited by Spanish news agency EFE.
Alexandr Chaiko, who was celebrating his 55th birthday at the Balzi Rossi restaurant in central Moscow, escaped the attack unharmed. The venue had been closed to the public for the private event, which according to the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU was attended by senior FSB officials, military generals, members of parliament, and government functionaries.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the explosion was caused by a homemade bomb carried by a woman who attempted to bring it into the restaurant. Among the dead were the woman herself, a security guard, and one of the restaurant's guests.
According to the newspaper Kommersant, the bomb, which had an explosive power equivalent to nearly one kilogram of TNT, was detonated remotely after a guard decided to check the suspicious contents of a package the woman was carrying, apparently posing as a delivery courier.
Recent appointment
Chaiko only assumed his post as commander in chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces in May. The independent outlet Meduza reported that at the start of the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, Chaiko commanded troops of the Eastern Military District, which were implicated in war crimes in Bucha.
A video circulated by Meduza captured a female voice remarking on the elaborate decor of the restaurant, saying she would have dressed differently had she known about the occasion. Chaiko's actual birthday fell on Monday, July 27.
Wider impact
The blast injured 21 people to varying degrees and forced the cancellation of a nighttime cycling event in the city of 13 million people.
Ukrainian intelligence services have killed several Russian generals and senior Defense Ministry officials over the course of nearly four and a half years of war. The most recent case before this attack was that of Fanil Sarvarov, head of operations for the Russian Army General Staff, who died in Moscow in December after a car bomb explosion.
