Russian general buried in Moscow identified as Valery Plokhotnyuk. He likely died in explosion at Aerospace Forces chief’s birthday party.
Major General Valery Plokhotnyuk was buried at Moscow’s Troyekurovskoye Cemetery on August 5, the anonymous Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported.
The independent Russian news outlet Mediazona and the independent Russian investigative outlet Agentstvo confirmed Plokhotnyuk’s death through state registries, which show one of his personal documents was invalidated on August 1 — the day of the explosion at Moscow’s Balzi Rossi restaurant, where a party was reportedly underway to mark the birthday of Alexander Chayko, commander-in-chief of Russia’s Aerospace Forces.
Leaked personal data reviewed by Agentstvo indicates Plokhotnyuk was related to Chayko, though the exact nature of the relationship remains unclear. One contact had saved the general’s number as “Plokhotnyuk Valera, Masha’s Godfather.” Masha is the name of Chayko’s daughter. One of Plokhotnyuk’s relatives was also in contact with Chayko’s daughter and wife on the social meVK, the Russian social media company.
VChK-OGPU reported that Daniil Peredriy — Alexander Chayko’s son-in-law, married to his daughter Maria — was buried at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery on August 6. Blogger Anatoliy Shariy was first to report his killing, and journalists later confirmed through Russian state registries that Peredriy, like Plokhotnyuk, died on August 1.
Valery Plokhotnyuk served as chief of staff of Russia’s 49th Combined Arms Army as of 2021, the same year Vladimir Putin promoted him to major general. Since November 2022, he had been listed as an employee of the Academician Semenikhin Scientific Research Institute of Automatic Equipment, which develops control systems for military and civilian use.
Ukrainian OSINT blogger Necro Mancer found a message on August 5 in a chat for Moscow’s Solntsevo district announcing a farewell ceremony for Lieutenant General Igor Yerusalimov. VChK-OGPU initially assumed Yerusalimov was the one buried at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery, but the independent Russian news outlet Verstka reported on August 6 that news of his death may have been a hoax.
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