The VIP banquet in Moscow, interrupted by an explosion and flying limbs, was held to celebrate the 55th birthday of the newly appointed commander of the Air Force, General Alexander Chaiko, one of the masterminds responsible for the Bucha massacre of Ukrainian civilians.
The explosion hit the Balzi Rossi restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square on August 1, killing the woman, a security guard, and one patron during a closed banquet reported as Colonel General Aleksandr Chaiko’s 55th birthday celebration.
Chaiko, commander-in-chief of Russia’s Aerospace Forces and previously linked to forces accused in Bucha atrocities, was among high-ranking officers said to be present, though officials have not confirmed his attendance or injuries.
Russian authorities called it a terrorist act from a homemade device, while some channels suggested a gas leak and Ukrainian sources hailed it as a strike on war-linked figures; at least 15 to 21 others were injured, with details still emerging amid ongoing probes.
Previously, a senior Russian commander in charge of supplying weapons for Putin’s army has been blown up in a car bombing in a Moscow suburb.
Damir Davydov was a colonel responsible for supplying weapons and ammunition to the Russian army for use in Ukraine.
A high-ranking officer was killed as he drove his BMW X3 in Balashikha, Moscow region, 14 miles east of the Kremlin.
Multiple Russian Telegram reports named Davydov, 57, despite earlier accounts having suggested the victim was a lieutenant-general aged 62.
The victim was dragged from his car ‘wheezing and screaming’ after the explosion.
He died at the scene close to his home in a district where many military personnel live.
Davydov headed the Department of Missile and Artillery Ammunition Supplies of the Russian Defence Ministry and was responsible for supplying weapons and ammunition to the Russian army for the war in Ukraine, according to reports.
The Insider – which gave Davydov’s rank as a Lt-Gen – citing sources in Kyiv said he was targeted in an operation by Ukraine SBU security service.
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