(CNN) — Moscow’s mayor says a bomb blast that killed at least five people including the woman carrying the device and injured 19 others at a restaurant was a “terrorist attack.”
An unidentified woman attempted to enter a private event at the Balzi Rossi restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square carrying what authorities believe was an improvised explosive device, state media reported. The bomb went off before she entered, killing the security guard who stopped her, and a customer, as well as the woman carrying the device, according to authorities.
Later on Sunday, Russian state news agency TASS reported that the death toll had risen from three to five people killed.
Authorities did not immediately identify the woman and it was also unclear whether she deliberately detonated the device.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, “Yesterday, a brutal terrorist attack took place in Moscow, claiming the lives of several people.”
“Those responsible for this crime will certainly be found and will face the punishment they deserve,” he added, giving no details on a motive or who might be behind the attack.
The apparent targets were guests attending a private event on the restaurant’s outdoor terrace, Russian business daily Kommersant reported. Sources told the newspaper that the event was heavily guarded, which may have prevented a significantly higher death toll.
Kommersant said a security guard became suspicious of a courier approaching with a box she described as a gift and decided to search her. The device exploded at that moment.
Investigators believe the bomb was detonated remotely, and a preliminary account indicates that the woman most likely did not know what the package contained, Kommersant reported.
The device had the explosive force of one kilogram of TNT and was packed with metal ball bearings intended to increase casualties, according to the newspaper.
While Russian authorities have not alleged a Ukraine link as of yet, Moscow has previously blamed Kyiv for a series of assassinations or assassination attempts on high-profile military officials since the war.
The blast happened around 8:10 p.m. local time (1:10 p.m. ET) near the outdoor terrace, according to Russian state news agency TASS, which cited the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The restaurant is located at the base of a landmark tower on Kudrinskaya Square, one of Moscow’s famous “Seven Sisters,” a group of Stalinist skyscrapers built in the 1950s.
The explosion immediately prompted the deployment of an investigative task force and a large number of police and emergency personnel to the site, which sits along the Garden Ring in Moscow’s central Presnensky district.
The restaurant said it was “deeply saddened by the tragedy and extends its sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of those who were killed.”
The nature of the attack has prompted widespread speculation over who might have been targeted.
The attack bore similarities to a 2023 bombing that killed a pro-war blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky. In that incident a woman was jailed for 27 years for delivering a bomb concealed inside a statuette that exploded in Tatarsky’s hands.
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