Putin Can’t Even Protect His Vulnerable Russian Elite

They tried to slip him into the ground quietly, so no one would notice.

In the West, when a VIP dies, there is usually a bit of a fuss.

A ceremony is held. Speeches orated. News channels carry their achievements, to rally citizens around the flag. A dead VIP is still useful, even if he was only the son-in-law of a general.

But in Russia, that was not done.

It was as if the war was not popular…as if Putin was trying to hide the fact that he could not protect even the highest-ranking officers.

It was a bit of a gamble on Putin’s part, anyway. The officer was dining at a posh Moscow restaurant - Balzi Rossi - when he died. He was with a bunch of other salute-me types at a prominent table.

And his son in law Daniil Peredriy was also at the table.

And on the ceiling.

And walls.

And floor.

Did I not mention that he was blown up?

Colonel-General Alexander Chayko was celebrating his 55^th birthday when a woman walked in with a package.

Putin had just ordered the reinforcement of his security due to internal conflicts between security forces.

He was looking the wrong way.

And the preparations made by the Ukrainians indicates a high level of awareness among their security forces about Chayko’s routes and schedule. This, in turn, may indicate a leak of information within Russian security agencies.

It contained $100,000 as a gift for the general.

It also contained metal balls and a kg of TNT explosive.

The bag went off as Russian security were examining it.

In Russia, the birthday present opens you.

The woman died, performing a righteous act. She knew the risks. She was a hero.

Because the person she was trying to kill was scum.

Aleksandr Chayko was commander of Russian forces on the Kyiv front during the Bucha Massacre.

Chayko’s troops committed barbaric mass rapes and tortures in what is seen as one of the worst Russian crimes of the conflict.

It happened while his troops were attacking the town of Bucca in 2022 for the second time, trying to break through to Kiev. They got to Yablunska Street, which would become known as the Street of Death.

69-year-old resident Valeriy Kizilov would become one of the first victims. He was sheltering in his basement with his wife Ludmyla when Chayko’ s troops dragged him out and shot him in the street.

Ludmyla remembers crawling out of the house and finding him. She opened his arms, apologizing for not saving him. There was nothing she could have done, but they had been married for 47 years.

458 bodies were recovered from the town, including nine children under the age of 18. Many of them were killed by summary executions, like Valeri.

A memorial wall was installed in Bucha with the names of the killed residents.

A month after Chakyo took the town, Ukrainian forces swept in a re-took it. It has remained in their hands ever since.

All those people died for nothing.

So the suspicion that Ukraine had something to do with Chakyo’s death is probably well grounded.

Other high-ranking military officers, politicians and top bureaucrats were at his birthday party when the homemade explosive detonated. More than 20 attendees were reportedly in a serious condition, some with their limbs blown off.

Five of those people were reported killed, including Russian Major General Valery Plokhotnyuk.

At the same time, reports of the death of Lieutenant General Igor Yerusalimov may be false. I’ll keep an eye on the graveyard names and report back.

But is it certain that Daniil Peredriy – son-in-law of Russian Aerospace Forces Commander-in-Chief Alexander Chayko – was buried on 6 August, a victim of the blast.

The Russians tried to bury him without a fuss, so no one would notice.

Then the Russian embassy in Rome accused Ukraine authorities of being responsible for the recent series of bombings in Russia.

Why would the Russian embassy in Rome be sending out leading-story statements about a bombing in Moscow?

Because the restaurant was Italian.

The Russians explicitly claimed that “Kyiv terrorists” wanted to put Italian expatriates in the crosshairs.

They so angered the Italians that the Deputy Prime Minister of Italy Antonio Tajani rebuffed the Russian Embassy’s statement. He called it a “colossal lie”. He reaffirmed Italy’s support for Ukraine, remarking “Why would Ukrainians want to intimidate Italians if our country stands alongside Kyiv?”

This is what the Italian PM Meloni looks like when she is annoyed (she was annoyed at Trump in this picture – I just had to work it in) and I would not want to face an expression like that.

I don’t know who in Russia thought that was going to be a help, but it was desperate and stupid. It was the best they could do to call attention away from their massacres in Ukraine.

Other high-ranking Russian officers have been targeted inside Russia. There has been the June 2026 car bombing of a senior defense official near Moscow, the December 2025 killing of Major General Fanil Sarvarov via car bomb, and the December 2024 assassination of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov.

A joke is making the rounds in Russia: Putin said on state TV that because of these terrorist attacks he now has no choice but to take the gloves off - as soon as Wildberries delivers them.

(Wildberries is the Russian version of Amazon, and their warehouses have been targeted in a series of successful Ukrainian drone attacks.)

At least 20 high-ranking Russian officials have died under mysterious circumstances recently.

Official reports claimed that Transport Minister Roman Starovoit died by suicide, while his deputy Andrey Korniychuk reportedly died of heart failure.

Foreign Intelligence Service generals Vyacheslav Trubnikov died in unclear circumstances, and Lev Sotskov died by apparent suicide.

Zalym Kerefov, pro-rector of the Russian Customs Academy, slashed his wrists in pre-trial detention. That can happen.

United Russia MP Pavel Antov fell from a window in India.

Ivan Pechorin, director of aviation at the Far Eastern Corporation fell from a boat.

Deputy head of the Interior Ministry’s extremism division, Vladimir Makarov, died of a gunshot wound.

Deputy Science Minister Petr Kucherenko died on a plane after returning from Cuba.

The Chief financial officer of Russia’s Western Military District, Marina Yankina, fell from the 16th floor.

The list goes on, but it is very depressing.

It is also depressing to think that Putin is actually doing worse than his Soviet predecessors.

The Soviet Union was a superpower with global ideological reach and control over a massive bloc of satellite states. PutinLand is a much reduced version of that – but he tries to throw his weight around as if he was Stalin.

A Stalin mini-me.

In one area Putin is getting close.

Russia’s casualties from its war in Ukraine have reached 1.4-million.

Those numbers are getting worse.

Independent military tracking and updates from Al Jazeera note that Russian forces suffered roughly 42,800 to 43,000 casualties during July alone.

Daily casualty rates for Russian forces have averaged roughly 1,000 to 1,200 killed and wounded per day.

And this is the number when the Russian troops are standing still. They are not even attacking.

Ukrainian military leadership has reported that its forces have retaken more than 600 square kilometers (approx. 270–230 square miles) of territory from Russian control since the start of 2026 alone.

Ukraine says its battlefield achievements are thanks to a strategy of disrupting Russian supply lines by striking fuel and ammunition in warehouses and in transit.

“The logistical lockdown is working,” said Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. “The number of hits on enemy targets at a distance of over 50km (30 miles) from the (frontline) has doubled,” he said, comparing May to April.

Former Ukrainian commander Syrskii put the May total at almost 2,000 strikes.

Significantly, the Ukrainian underground group Atesh, which operates in Crimea, said Russian units were abandoning their positions on the Kinburn Spit because they were running out of food and fuel. Crimea would be the trophy that kills Putin, if Ukraine can re-take it.

But in the meantime, the Russians are falling out of the top of the tree and shedding leaves at the bottom. It is not a situation made for stability.

As Putin well knows.

And every restaurant bomb, each drone overhead, any one of a million packages, could carry his exit card.

I wonder what he imagines his contribution to the Russian nation will be? What will he be remembered for?

Perhaps: trimming the military.

Whether they wanted it or not.

Because in the end, Putin could not even protect his own military leaders.

The best plans of the generals and the dictators fall apart when they meet the people.

As the ruler of America is about to find out.

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