Attempted Assassination in Moscow Restaurant Reveals Inadequate Security of Putin’s Elites – With Ukraine’s drone strikes now occurring with regularity in and around Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to maintain a veneer of “normalcy” in Russia are becoming an increasingly difficult challenge. Convincing the population at large in any nation that the situation remains peaceful, stable, and secure during a war is almost impossible under normal circumstances.
But with a state-controlled media, an increasingly repressive secret police apparatus, internet blackouts and blocks on other news channels, he had – until this past weekend -miraculously convinced much of his elite circles and even some of the populace that he was still in control.
Putin In Airplane Simulator Russian Government Photo
Putin in 2019 Russian Federation Photo
Moscow Is No Longer Safe
That miraculously manufactured illusion of a country not being in turmoil, and the state’s ability to continue convincing the population that all is well, came to an end on Saturday, 1 August.
This was the night that a brazen attempt to kill Colonel-General Aleksandr Chayko, the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), and a coterie of senior military and intelligence officials almost succeeded.
An unidentified woman, described by Russian news outlets as a “courier”, attempted to enter the exclusive restaurant in central Moscow where Chayko’s birthday and recent promotion were being celebrated. She was carrying what she said was a “gift” for the VKS commander.
The parcel she had contained an improvised exploding device that detonated and killed her and four others, including the General’s son-in-law, say some press reports.
Russian investigators suggested this courier may not have known she was transporting explosives and said the device was detonated remotely. Between ten and twenty others were wounded in the explosion, one of whom was reported to be the General’s daughter.
This was the blood-soaked and ignominious end of an evening when Chayko had intended to have a double celebration – his 55th birthday and also his recent promotion as the Commander of the VKS. So much for normalcy.
Dangerous Security Blind Spots
Yesterday, 4 August, a well-known Russian expert in Washington pointed out in an analytical commentary how whoever is responsible for the incident is exposing a serious and “dangerous security blind spot, giving adversaries like Ukraine greater opportunities to target the Kremlin’s military elite.”
The ease with which whoever planned the assassination attempt learned of the celebration, which took place at a venue that had been closed to the public, is also ringing alarm bells inside the circles of Putin’s elite allies. The bombing is telling them that no one is safe, no matter their position.
Chaiko being at the restaurant would establish a compelling motive for Ukraine” to attempt this assassination, writes Dr. Mark Episkopos, a Eurasia research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
Ukraine would have ample cause to try and take out Chayko in retaliation for his role as the then-commander of all Russian troops when Putin’s military swept in and temporarily occupied the area north of Kyiv in a settlement known as Bucha. When Ukrainian forces retook control of the city at the end of March 2022, they discovered hundreds of civilian bodies scattered along streets and in makeshift mass graves.
Many of these bodies showed explicit signs of torture, bound hands, and execution-style gunshot wounds. As the commander on the scene, Chayko is therefore responsible for a multitude of war crimes.
Shattering Illusions
The General’s near-death experience, Episkopos told Fox News Digital, has spun up the “ongoing discourse inside Russia that, despite numerous such attacks, Russian elites and even military figures continue to flout [operational security] best practices by holding parties like this in the first place.”
“This particular event did seem to have a substantial level of security, which is why the person carrying the explosive was reportedly stopped and questioned at the entrance,” Episkopos noted. This, however, does not detract from the reality that many Russians are today asking themselves, “With all of the many security forces in Russia, how does this happen in the heart of the capital?”
“The other factor here is that Putin has done his best to preserve a sense of ‘normalcy’ in Moscow and St. Petersburg, cultivating a façade of stability that Ukraine has been able to exploit,” Episkopos added. Today, that façade is most likely shattered for good.
But what still stands as unsubstantiated is whether this assassination plot was hatched in Ukraine – or possibly someplace else.
“The means by which this attack was executed — a remotely detonated explosive device delivered on-site by a civilian — are also consistent with other assassinations deep inside Russian territory previously attributed to Ukraine,” Episkopos said. “These include those of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, pro-Kremlin blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, and others,” he said.
But as of this writing, Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for this bombing, which has led numerous parties to ask why. The suggestion has been made that Ukraine did not organize the attempted mass killing, and Chayko may not have been the main target but one of the other high-ranking guests.
If this were the case, it could mean that the infighting for whoever takes over once Putin is gone has already begun. This is Round One with many more to come.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
