Moscow Mayor Labels Restaurant Bombing a Terrorist Act
Moscow's mayor called a restaurant bombing that killed three people including the bomber and wounded over 20 a terrorist act, though no group has claimed responsibility.
The mayor of Moscow has described a deadly bombing at an upscale restaurant in the Russian capital as a brutal terrorist act, though authorities have yet to identify those responsible for the attack that left three dead and more than 20 wounded.
Sergei Sobyanin issued a statement on Sunday following Saturday evening’s explosion at Balzi Rossi, an Italian restaurant located in central Moscow, according to Washington Examiner. The blast killed three people, including the female bomber herself, Russian state media reported, citing local officials.
Yesterday, a brutal terrorist act was committed in Moscow that claimed human lives, Sobyanin wrote on social media, adding that victims were receiving care in city hospitals and that an investigation was underway.
The Moscow mayor pledged that those responsible would face appropriate punishment, though no individual or group has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack as of Sunday afternoon.
At least 21 people were wounded when the explosive device detonated at the restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee confirmed late Saturday, as reported by Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.
According to the same outlet, a woman attempted to bring the bomb into the establishment but was stopped by a security guard who refused her entry. The device then exploded outside. The Moscow Investigative Committee said Saturday evening that the incident remained under investigation.
The restaurant had been closed for a private event at the time of the bombing, Ria Novosti noted. State media footage showed heavily armed law enforcement personnel, multiple ambulances, and emergency vehicles deployed at the scene.
Security Tightened Following Previous Attacks
Earlier this year, Russia’s Federal Security Service announced enhanced security measures for senior military and government officials following a wave of assassination attempts in Russian cities that began after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian authorities have not yet publicly linked Saturday’s bombing to these earlier attacks or to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Washington Examiner reports.
Moscow previously accused Kyiv of orchestrating a car bombing in the capital last April that killed Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in Russia’s General Staff. Ukraine did not publicly claim responsibility for that attack.
However, Ukraine’s SBU security service did acknowledge organizing the December 2024 killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who headed the Russian military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces. Kirillov was killed by a bomb concealed in a scooter outside his Moscow apartment building, one day after Ukrainian security services filed criminal charges against him.
Pattern of High-Profile Attacks
Other notable victims of bombing attacks in Russia include Daria Dugina, daughter of influential nationalist thinker Aleksandr Dugin, and Vladlen Tatarsky, a prominent pro-Kremlin military blogger.
Kyiv denied any involvement in the Dugina assassination and did not respond to Russian accusations regarding Tatarsky’s death.
As of Sunday afternoon, Russian authorities had released no additional information about the Balzi Rossi bombing, and the investigation continues.
With information from Washington Examiner
