Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 1
Russia Launches Terrorism Probe After Moscow Restaurant Bomb Kills 3 and Injures 21
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 1

Russia Launches Terrorism Probe After Moscow Restaurant Bomb Kills 3 and Injures 21

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 1

Summary

  • Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a terrorism case after a homemade bomb exploded at 7:55 p.m. in Balzi Rossi, an upscale restaurant on Moscow’s Kudrinskaya Square.
  • Three people died — a security guard, the suspected female bomber and a patron — after the guard stopped the woman from entering and the device detonated, according to the National Anti-Terrorism Committee.
  • Twenty-one others were injured in the blast, which struck a central Moscow site near the Garden Ring during what the restaurant said was a private party.
  • Chef Carmine Alfieri later said the restaurant and kitchen were intact, pushing back on early rumors that a gas leak had caused the explosion.

Insights

Who was the true target of the private event at the Moscow restaurant, and was the suspected bomber an unwitting pawn?
With no group claiming responsibility, could the deadly Moscow IED blast be a targeted assassination disguised as a random terror attack?
How did a suspect bypass central Moscow's security with a shrapnel-packed IED, and are more extremist sleeper cells active today?