MOSCOW: A woman carrying a homemade explosive device killed at least three people and injured 21 others in a blast outside an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on Saturday evening, Russian authorities said, as unverified reports linked the attack to the war in Ukraine.
The explosion occurred shortly before 8pm near the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant, located inside one of Moscow’s iconic Stalin-era skyscrapers at Kudrinskaya Square.
According to Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAK), an unidentified woman carrying an improvised explosive device attempted to enter the restaurant but was stopped by a security guard.
Authorities said the woman, the security guard and a restaurant customer were killed instantly when the device exploded.
Russian broadcaster REN TV, citing an unnamed source, reported on Sunday that two of the injured later died in hospital, raising the death toll to five. However, officials had not confirmed the additional fatalities. The broadcaster also said six people remained in critical condition.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin expressed condolences to the victims’ families on Sunday and condemned the incident.
“A brutal terrorist attack was carried out in Moscow yesterday,” he said in a statement.
Security forces quickly sealed off the area after the explosion, while investigators continued examining the scene. Authorities have not released the identities of the victims or named any suspects.
Unconfirmed reports circulating on social media suggested that a senior Russian military commander had been the intended target of the attack but escaped unharmed.
More than four years into the war with Ukraine, Russia has pledged stronger security measures for senior military officials following a series of assassinations and attempted attacks that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv.
Several Russian military bloggers, without presenting evidence, accused Ukraine of being behind the bombing. Ukrainian authorities did not immediately respond to the allegations.
Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that investigators were considering the possibility that the woman carrying the explosive device may not have known it was a bomb and that it could have been detonated remotely by another individual.
According to the restaurant’s website, the venue had been closed to the public on Saturday because it was hosting a private event.
The incident drew comparisons to the 2023 bombing that killed pro-war Russian blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.
In that case, Darya Trepova was sentenced to 27 years in prison after delivering a bomb concealed inside a statuette that exploded while Tatarsky was handling it. She later said she had acted on instructions from a man in Ukraine who had provided her with money.
At the time, senior Ukrainian officials neither claimed responsibility for the attack nor denied any involvement.
