Female bomber kills at least three, injures 21 near Moscow restaurant

Unverified social media reports suggest Russian military commander was the intended target but remained unharmed

A homemade bomb carried by a woman killed at least three people and injured 21 near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on Saturday evening, authorities said, amid unconfirmed speculation on social media ​that the attack may have been linked to the war in Ukraine.

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

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

NAK said the woman, the guard and a customer at the Balzi Rossi ​Italian restaurant had been killed instantly in the blast that followed.

The number of injured by an explosion in a restaurant in the center of Moscow has grown to 21 people from 15, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said:https://t.co/V3BZWfwq2J pic.twitter.com/YU3NPqcoCy

— TASS (@tassagency_en) August 1, 2026

REN TV cited a source on Sunday as saying that two people who had been taken to hospital had 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 Sunday ​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 Saturday.

The authorities did not name those killed or injured or any suspects. Unverified social media reports suggested that a top Russian military commander had been the intended target but had been unharmed.

More than four years into a full-scale war with Ukraine, ​Russia this year promised better protection for ​high-ranking military officials after a series ⁠of assassinations and attempted killings, which it blamed on Kyiv.

READ: Ukraine brings the war to Moscow as huge blasts shake refinery

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

The Kommersant ​Daily suggested that the woman carrying the bomb may not have known about it, and ​that it ⁠had been set off remotely by someone else.

The restaurant's website said the venue had been closed on Saturday 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.