A bomb ripped through a central Moscow upscale restaurant mid-evening on Saturday in what authorities are calling a "brutal terrorist act" - which left three people dead and wounded at least 21.
"Yesterday, a brutal terrorist act was committed in Moscow that claimed human lives. The victims are currently in the city’s hospitals, where they are receiving all necessary care," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated Sunday.
The location was at Kudrinkskaya Square outside an Italian restaurant, in one of Moscow’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers, police described.
Russia's anti-terrorism committee stated the culprit was an unidentified woman carrying an improvised explosive device who tried get into the restaurant before being stopped by a security guard, who was killed in the subsequent blast, along with a customer.
The Guardian notes that the death toll could climb as many victims are being treated at area hospitals:
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, but there was no official confirmation. The channel said six people were in a serious condition.
There's been widespread speculation as to what entity carried out the attack, and who was the intended target.
"Unverified social media reports suggested that a top Russian military commander had been the intended target but had been unharmed," The Moscow Times writes. "Russian war bloggers, without citing any evidence, were quick to blame Ukraine for the attack. Kyiv did not immediately comment."
The same report adds, "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," and it notes that "The restaurant's website said the venue had been closed on Saturday for a private event."
This terror attack possibly adds, pending the details, to a growing list of high profile assassinations related to the Ukraine war. To review:
—Darya Dugina was killed in a car bombing in 2022 which was likely meant for her father, prominent political thinker and often dubbed "Putin ally" Aleksandr Dugin.
—Gen Igor Kirillov died in December 2024 outside of his residence when a bomb planted in a nearby scooter detonated.
—Gen Yaroslav Moskalik, who served as deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was killed in a car bomb attack last April. A "homemade" explosive device detonated under his Volkswagen Golf in a residential neighborhood.
And in circumstances somewhat similar to this latest restaurant bombing, in April 2023 a cafe bombing killed prominent pro-Kremlin blogger and war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky. The blast at a St. Petersburg cafe during a close-quarters speaking event wounded some two dozen bystanders, six of them critically.
America's CIA or Britain's MI6 has long been suspected by some pundits of being involved in these targeted killings, or at least assisting in such brazen Ukrainian-linked operations, but ultimately little has been uncovered or proven in terms of a potential Western hidden hand in this ongoing 'dirty war'.