Secret funeral is held for top Putin war commander killed in Moscow 'assassination' bomb blast at birthday party

By SAM LAWLEY, NEWS REPORTER and WILL STEWART Published: 01:03, 6 August 2026 | Updated: 01:15, 6 August 2026 A secret funeral has been held for a top Putin war commander who was allegedly assassinated in a bomb blast at a birthday party. Lt-Gen Igor Yerusalimov, 53, died in a suspected Ukrainian plot carried out at the high-end Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant in Kudrinskaya Square, just over a mile from the Kremlin, on Saturday. He was celebrating the 55th birthday of Col-Gen Alexander Chayko, head of Russian Aerospace Forces, when a female courier brought in a 'gift' for the host. A security operative rushed to stop her but the present exploded killing both of them and three others, including Yerusalimov, and wounding 19 more. Chayko is believed to have been unhurt but his daughter Maria, 25, was seriously wounded with a 'traumatic brain injury', according to sources. Her husband Daniil Peredriy, 27, was killed from wounds in the Moscow blast. Yerusalimov's funeral took place at Troekurovskoye cemetery and was guarded by a group of security officials. The Putin ally was twice promoted by the Russian President, according to Telegram channel VKCh-OGPU, which has close links to law enforcement.  A secret funeral has been held for Igor Yerusalimov, pictured, a top Putin war commander who was allegedly assassinated in a bomb blast at a birthday party Pictured: The blast took place outside the upmarket Balzi Rossi eatery in Kudrinskaya Square, just over a mile from the Kremlin, at around 8.10pm local time He was the former first deputy chief of staff of the Moscow Military District.  The Kremlin initially sought to hide the names of the victims in the wake of the incident at the £85,000 birthday bash.  The 'homemade bomb' was loaded with metal balls and exploded with the equivalent force of 1kg of TNT, it has been reported. Images posted on Russian Telegram channels showed fire engines and ambulances rushing to the scene, which is at one of Moscow's seven Stalin-era skyscrapers. Traffic near Kudrinskaya Square was temporarily blocked and the entrances to the Barrikadnaya metro station were closed. Photographs from the scene showed heavily armed cops standing guard beside a police cordon. A spokesman for Moscow police said at the time: 'From the information we have, an explosion happened today at around 8.10pm (5.10pm GMT) near a summer cafe, causing three deaths and 15 injured, of varying degrees of seriousness.' Pro-Kremlin Readovka channel reported: 'A forensic team from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and emergency services are working at the scene.' In June, Chayko was branded a 'war criminal' by Ukraine. Alexander Chayko, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces and a senior war commander, was celebrating his 55th birthday at the restaurant Chayko pictured with his daughter, Maria, on her wedding day. She suffered an 'open traumatic brain injury' in the blast Daniil Peredriy,a former professional ice hockey player, pictured with Maria on their wedding day. He was one of two people who died today in hospital after sustaining injuries in the blast The general is a decorated war hero in Russia and was behind a ruthless aerial bombing of Ukraine with Tu-95MS. On Sunday, Ukrainian forces also attacked his Engels-2 airbase in Saratov region. In 2022, Chayko commanded Russian forces on the front line in Kyiv, when his troops carried out the notorious barbaric mass rapes, tortures and murders in Bucha, near Kyiv, during Putin's initial invasion of Ukraine when at least 450 were killed. The Bucha Massacre is seen as one of the worst Russian war crimes of the conflict.