A farewell ceremony for Lieutenant General Igor Erusalimov took place on August 4 in the Solntsevo district of Moscow, according to a post in a local chat that was later deleted. The post, spotted by Ukrainian OSINT blogger Necro Mancer and reported by Mediazona and Novaya Gazeta Europe, included an address matching Erusalimov's registered residence and said the funeral was set for the morning of August 5.
Erusalimov was 53. He received the rank of lieutenant general in May 2025, and major general a week before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In 2020, he was listed as chief of the operational directorate of the Western Military District's staff, and in 2024 as chief of the operational directorate and first deputy chief of staff of the Moscow Military District.
The date and circumstances of his death are unknown. Mediazona said it could not establish them.
The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported on August 5 that a funeral for a "relatively young" major general took place at Moscow's Troekurovskoye Cemetery. According to the channel, the procession included an honor guard with the flag of the Aerospace Forces (VKS), and a Ground Forces flag stood at the grave. The channel's authors speculated this could have been the funeral of a friend of Aerospace Forces Commander-in-Chief Alexander Chaiko, who they suggested might have died in the August 1 explosion at the Balzi Rossi restaurant. The channel did not name the deceased.
The explosion at the Balzi Rossi restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square in Moscow occurred on the evening of August 1. Novaya Gazeta Europe reported five dead and 19 injured; Deutsche Welle reported three dead and 21 injured. Russian authorities called the incident a terrorist attack.
According to media reports, the target of the attack may have been Aerospace Forces Commander-in-Chief Alexander Chaiko, who was reportedly celebrating his 55th birthday at the restaurant. Chaiko was reportedly not injured. The names of the victims have not been officially released. Agentstvo reported that Daniil Peredry, described as Chaiko's son-in-law, died in the explosion. Verstka and Ukrainian blogger Anatoly Shariy wrote about the injury of Chaiko's daughter Maria.