At around 6pm on Saturday evening, a bomb exploded at the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant in Moscow. The target of the attack was General Aleksandr Chayko, commander of Russia's Aerospace Forces, The Kyiv Independent newspaper reports, citing a source with knowledge of the incident.
According to the source, the explosion is the third recent attack against Russians linked to military production and the Russian military.
At the same time, a Ukrainian commander was targeted in an attack in Kharkiv as recently as last week, according to Zelenskyy.
Accused of war crimes
"We will definitely respond to this attempted attack on Ukraine," Zelenskyy wrote on X at the time.
At the beginning of the war, Chaiko was the commander of the Eastern Military District, which Ukraine accuses of war crimes in Butja outside Kyiv. He was appointed to his current post only in May this year.
Chayko's health condition is unclear. Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the explosion.
According to official Russian information, a woman tried to enter the restaurant to deliver a package, which she said contained a gift. The bomb was detonated when the woman was searched by a security guard, according to the state-controlled newspaper Kommersant.
The woman, the guard and at least one other guest are reported to have been killed.
The restaurant was closed on Saturday evening for a private banquet and, according to media reports, a birthday party was taking place for General Tchaiko, who had turned 55 a few days earlier.
The daughter is reportedly injured.
In a video believed to have been recorded in the venue, a sign with the text "Aleksandr 55" is visible.
One of those injured was Chajko's 25-year-old daughter, a source close to the restaurant management told the exiled Russian news site Vjorstka.
The daughter's husband may also have been injured, according to Vjorstka, which reviewed unofficial casualty lists published in pro-Kremlin media.
Russian officials have not confirmed who was the target of the explosion, but are describing the incident as a terrorist attack.
