A powerful explosion tore through a restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square in central Moscow on Saturday night, killing at least three people, AP News reported, citing Russian authorities.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin publicly condemned the incident, describing it as a “brutal terrorist attack” in a statement posted online on Sunday.
“Law enforcement agencies are investigating the circumstances of the incident. Those responsible for this crime will certainly be found and face the punishment they deserve,” Sobyanin wrote.
Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee said a woman carrying “a homemade explosive device” attempted to enter the restaurant but was stopped by a security guard at the entrance.
The device detonated at the restaurant’s entrance, killing the woman, the security guard, and a patron who was inside the venue at the time.
State news agency RIA Novosti reported that at least 21 additional people were injured in the blast, which occurred shortly before 8 p.m. local time.
The restaurant’s website indicated the venue had been closed that evening for a private event, adding a further layer of uncertainty around the intended target.
Heavily armed law enforcement officers sealed off the surrounding area and launched a full investigation into the circumstances of the attack.
Russian authorities did not immediately identify those believed to be responsible, and officials had yet to comment on any possible Ukrainian involvement in the Kudrinskaya Square blast.
Russia has faced numerous attacks since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, with Russian officials previously blaming a series of assassinations and attempted killings on Kyiv.
Separately, Ukraine deployed drones to strike other parts of Russia on Saturday evening and into Sunday, including a bombing that struck an apartment block in the city of Engels, roughly 900 kilometers southeast of Moscow, killing two people.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian drones also struck a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, a major online retailer, at a site in the Samara Oblast deep inside Russian territory.
Regional Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said it was not immediately clear whether that strike had produced any casualties among workers or civilians nearby.
Russian officials additionally reported more than 100 Ukrainian strikes in the Belgorod Oblast, which borders Ukraine, with Kyiv forces reportedly using artillery, rocket launchers, and drones, leaving 14 people injured.
Russia claimed to have shot down over 200 Ukrainian drones during the wave of attacks, with the overall tally of downed Ukrainian drones reported at 635 overnight.
In Ukraine, at least one person was killed and seven wounded in a Russian artillery attack on Kherson, while seven passengers were wounded in a drone strike on a minibus in Dnipro.
Regional military administrator Oleksandr Hanzha described the Dnipro strike as “a deliberate and cynical attack on civilians,” underscoring the continued toll on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and lives.
At least nine people were killed and 33 injured in Russian strikes on Kyiv earlier that same weekend, as the broader conflict showed no signs of easing across multiple fronts.
