The blast occurred near an upscale Italian restaurant during a private event, prompting authorities to open a terrorism investigation.
MOSCOW — A homemade bomb carried by a woman exploded near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on Saturday evening, killing three people and injuring at least 21 others, Russian authorities said.
The explosion happened shortly before 8 p.m. near the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square, according to police and Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee. Authorities said the unidentified woman tried to enter the restaurant with an improvised explosive device but was stopped by a security guard. The bomb detonated near the entrance soon afterward.
The woman, the security guard and a restaurant customer were killed in the explosion, the anti-terrorism committee said. Officials initially reported 15 people injured before raising the number to 21. Authorities had not released the victims’ names or provided a full account of the injured people’s conditions by Sunday afternoon.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called the bombing a “brutal terrorist act” and offered condolences to the families of those killed. He said the injured were receiving treatment in city hospitals and that investigators would seek to identify everyone responsible for the attack.
No organization had publicly claimed responsibility, and Russian authorities had not named a suspect or announced a motive. The Moscow Investigative Committee was examining the explosion, while police and other security agencies restricted access to the area and collected evidence from the scene.
The restaurant occupies part of one of Moscow’s Stalin-era skyscrapers and had been closed to the public for a private function Saturday, according to its website and news reports. Authorities did not confirm the nature of the gathering or identify the people who attended it.
Some Russian media outlets and military bloggers claimed that a senior Russian military commander may have been the intended target. Officials had not verified those reports, and authorities had not publicly connected the attack to the war in Ukraine or to any previous bombing.
Russian war bloggers accused Ukraine of involvement without presenting evidence. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment. Investigators also had not established whether the woman carrying the device knew it contained explosives or whether another person may have detonated it remotely.
One Russian television report said two hospitalized victims later died, which would raise the death toll to five. That report cited an unnamed source and had not been officially confirmed. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee and other authorities continued to report three deaths as of Sunday.
The bombing follows several attacks against Russian military and pro-Kremlin figures since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian officials have blamed Kyiv for some previous attacks, while Ukraine has acknowledged involvement in certain cases, denied others or declined to comment. Authorities had not established a link between those incidents and Saturday’s explosion.
The investigation remained active Sunday, with no arrests, suspects or confirmed organization behind the bombing publicly announced. Officials said the wounded remained under medical care as security agencies worked to determine how the device was brought to the restaurant and who planned the attack.
Author note: Last updated August 2, 2026.