Bomb carried by woman kills at least 3, injures 21 near Moscow restaurant

• A homemade bomb carried by a woman exploded near an upscale Moscow restaurant, killing three people and injuring at least 21 on August 1 evening.
• The woman was stopped by a security guard before the blast, which killed her, the guard, and a customer; the bomb may have been detonated remotely.
• Authorities have not named victims or suspects; security has increased amid tensions, with speculation the bomb targeted guests on the restaurant's summer terrace.

MOSCOW - A home-made bomb carried by a woman killed at least three people and injured at least 21 in an explosion near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on the evening of Aug 1, the authorities said.

The explosion occurred just before 8pm local time close to an Italian restaurant located in one of Moscow’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers at Kudrinskaya Square, the police said.

Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee said an unidentified woman carrying an improvised explosive device had tried to get into the restaurant but had been stopped by a security guard.

It said the woman, the security guard and a customer at the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant were killed instantly in the blast that followed.

Russian media network REN TV cited a source on Aug 2 as saying that another two people who had been taken to hospital later died of their wounds, bringing the death toll to five, though there was no official confirmation.

REN TV said six people remained in a serious condition.

Speculation of link to Ukraine war

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Aug 2 offered his condolences to the families of those killed and said those responsible would be punished.

“A brutal terrorist attack was carried out in Moscow yesterday,” he said in a statement.

Heavily armed law enforcement officers sealed off the scene of the attack on Aug 1.

The authorities did not name those killed or injured nor did they say who they thought might have been responsible.

Unverified social media reports suggested that a top Russian military commander had been the intended target but had been unharmed.

Russia, which launched a full-scale war with Ukraine more than four years ago, has promised better protection for high-ranking military officials after a series of assassinations and attempted killings, which it blamed on Kyiv.

Russian war bloggers, without citing any evidence, were quick to blame Ukraine for the attack. Kyiv did not immediately comment.

The Kommersant daily newspaper suggested that the bomb had been set off by someone else remotely and that the woman carrying it may not have known that it was an explosive device.

The restaurant’s website said the venue had been closed on Aug 1 for a private event.

The nature of the attack recalled a bombing carried out in 2023 that killed Russian pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.

A young woman, Darya Trepova, was jailed for 27 years for delivering a bomb concealed inside a statuette that exploded in Tatarsky’s hands. She said she had been acting under instruction from a man in Ukraine who had sent her money.

Senior Ukrainian officials at the time neither claimed responsibility nor denied involvement. REUTERS