Woman bomber kills 3 near Moscow restaurant

A homemade bomb detonated by a woman killed at least three people and injured 21 others near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on Saturday evening. The explosion occurred shortly before 8 p.m. at Kudrinskaya Square, close to an Italian restaurant situated in one of Moscow's prominent Stalin-era skyscrapers. Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAK) reported that an unidentified woman carrying an improvised explosive device was stopped by a security guard as she attempted to enter the restaurant. The blast instantly killed the woman, the guard, and a customer at the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant. Reports from REN TV, citing a source, indicated that two individuals hospitalized later died from their wounds, potentially raising the death toll to five, though this remains unconfirmed by officials. Six people are reportedly in serious condition.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin condemned the incident as a "brutal terrorist attack" and vowed that those responsible would be punished. Law enforcement officers cordoned off the scene. While authorities have not identified any suspects or victims, unverified social media reports suggested a top Russian military commander may have been the intended target but escaped unharmed. This speculation arises amid heightened security concerns for Russian military officials following a series of assassinations and attempted killings, which Russia attributes to Kyiv, more than four years into its full-scale war with Ukraine.

Russian war bloggers quickly blamed Ukraine for the attack, though without providing evidence. Kyiv has not yet issued a comment. The Kommersant daily newspaper proposed that the woman carrying the bomb might not have been aware of its detonation mechanism, suggesting it could have been triggered remotely. The restaurant's website indicated it was closed for a private event on Saturday. The nature of the attack has drawn comparisons to a 2023 bombing that resulted in the death of Russian pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky. In that case, a young woman, Darya Trepova, received a 27-year prison sentence for delivering a bomb concealed within a statuette, which exploded in Tatarsky's hands. She claimed to have acted under instructions from a man in Ukraine who had sent her money.

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A brutal terrorist attack was carried out in Moscow yesterday.