A homemade explosive device killed three people and wounded more than twenty others outside an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on Saturday evening, Russian officials said.
The blast struck shortly before 8 p.m. local time near the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square, close to one of the city’s landmark Stalin era towers, police said.
Russia’s National Anti Terrorism Committee said an unidentified woman tried to carry the device into the restaurant but was stopped by a security guard at the entrance. The device detonated moments later, killing the woman, the guard and a customer, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
What We Know So Far
Officials said the toll includes the three people killed and at least 21 others wounded with injuries of varying severity. Russia’s Interior Ministry gave a lower injury count of 15, and the discrepancy between the two figures had not been resolved as of Saturday night.
The Interior Ministry said the explosion happened near Building 1 on Kudrinskaya Square at approximately 8:10 p.m. Police and emergency crews sealed off the area shortly afterward.
RIA Novosti released video showing heavily armed law enforcement officers stationed around the site. Authorities have not released the names of those killed or wounded.
The restaurant’s website said the venue had been closed Saturday for a private event.
Investigators with the Moscow Investigative Committee said the case remains under investigation. Russian officials have not said who they believe was responsible or what triggered the blast.
What Authorities Are Saying
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the explosion occurred near a summer outdoor seating area at the restaurant. Officials have offered no public assessment yet of a motive.
The newspaper Kommersant, citing its own sources, reported that the bomb had been intended to kill and maim guests seated on the restaurant’s outdoor terrace. The paper suggested the device may have been triggered remotely by someone other than the woman carrying it, raising the possibility she did not know she was holding an explosive.
Russian authorities have not confirmed that account.
Why This Matters
The bombing comes more than four years into Russia’s full scale war in Ukraine, a conflict that has repeatedly spilled into attacks on Russian soil. Russia’s FSB security service said earlier this year that it was increasing protection for senior military officials following a string of assassinations and attempted killings it has blamed on Kyiv.
Saturday’s blast fits a pattern Russian authorities have described publicly, though officials have not yet linked this incident to any specific group. Ukraine has not commented on the explosion, and no organization has claimed responsibility.
The setting adds to the story’s weight. Kudrinskaya Square sits among some of Moscow’s most recognizable architecture, and an attack in a district associated with fine dining and tourism is likely to unsettle residents who have largely viewed the war as distant from daily life in the capital.
If investigators confirm the bomb was detonated remotely, as Kommersant’s sources suggested, it would point to a more coordinated operation than a self detonated device, with implications for how Russian security services approach protection of public venues going forward.
What Happens Next
Russian investigators are expected to examine surveillance footage and forensic evidence from the blast site in the coming days. Authorities have given no timeline for identifying a suspect or a motive.
Officials have not indicated whether they plan to increase security at restaurants or public venues in Moscow following the attack. Coverage from Russian state media and Western outlets is expected to continue as investigators release further details, including confirmed identities of the victims and any findings on how the device was built or detonated.
Reporting drawn from Reuters, The Associated Press, ABC News and the Kyiv Independent, citing Russian state media, RIA Novosti, Russia’s National Anti Terrorism Committee, the Moscow Investigative Committee and Russia’s Interior Ministry.
