A homemade bomb exploded at a Moscow restaurant on Saturday evening, killing three people and injuring 21 others, Russian officials said.
Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the blast occurred at approximately 8:10 p.m. local time at the Balzi Ross restaurant in Kudrinskaya Square, in central Moscow. According to state news agency TASS, a woman carrying an improvised explosive device was stopped by a security guard at the entrance before the device detonated.
The woman, the guard, and a cafe customer were killed in the explosion. Twenty-one others were reported injured.
State news agency Ria Novosti reported the restaurant had been closed to the public for a private banquet at the time of the attack. A witness told the agency that barefoot men and women in elegant dresses were seen leaving the building after the blast, some still carrying their shoes.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, officials said.
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Here's the thing: a bomb detonates at a private banquet in the heart of Moscow, and Russian authorities are still calling the cause 'under investigation.' That phrasing does a lot of work. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee is already involved, which signals the Kremlin is treating this as exactly what it looks like — a targeted attack, not an accident.
What the facts don't yet answer is who sent the woman and why. A closed banquet in a central Moscow venue suggests the guest list mattered to someone. The security guard stopped her at the door, which likely saved lives inside — a grim reminder that physical security at civilian venues remains one of the few friction points that actually works. The investigation will tell the story eventually. Moscow will want it told on its own terms.
