Massive explosion at Moscow restaurant kills at least 3; woman suspected of carrying bomb

A massive explosion occurred at Moscow's Balzi Rossi restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square during a private event on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring more than 21. According to initial reports, homemade bomb exploded after an unidentified woman attempted to enter the restaurant. She is suspected of carrying the device and was dead in the explosion, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported citing Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee. The bomb went off before she entered, killing the security guard who stopped her and a customer. The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the explosion happened at 8:10 p.m. local time.

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"A homemade explosive device blew up at a restaurant in Kudrinskaya Square in Moscow, killing three people," said the committee, quoted by the Tass state news agency.

According to Russian business daily Kommersant, the apparent targets were guests attending a private event on the restaurant’s outdoor terrace. It said that the woman was searched when the security guards became suspicious of a courier approaching with a box she described as a gift. The device exploded at that moment. The device had the explosive force of one kilogram of TNT and was packed with metal ball bearings intended to increase casualties

The restaurant’s chef, Carmine Alfieri thanked people for their support following the blast. He said the staff were safe and characterized the incident as “a minor issue.” “We’re all fine, and our restaurant and kitchen are in perfect condition; there was just a minor issue at the restaurant entrance,” Alfieri said on Instagram without elaborating.

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Bomb blasts in Russia

Russia has been the target of several terrorist attacks in the past. Since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, Ukraine's secret service has claimed or been accused of several attacks on Russian military officers and public figures backing the conflict. Russia blamed Ukraine for the killing of a senior general, Yaroslav Moskalik, in a car bomb in April 2025.

In August 2022 the nationalist Darya Dugina, daughter of hardline Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed outside Moscow when a bomb attached to her car detonated. Many believe her father was the intended target. In April 2023, pro-Kremlin military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky -- real name Maxim Fomin -- was killed when a statuette he was handed exploded at a cafe in Saint Petersburg. A bomb attached to a scooter outside a Moscow apartment block killed General Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian army's chemical weapons division, and his assistant in December 2024. And the pro-Kremlin writer and nationalist Zakhar Prilepin was seriously wounded in a May 2023 car explosion that killed another person near the city of Nizhny Novgorod.