At least five people were killed and 19 injured when a bomb exploded outside the Balzi Rossi restaurant in central Moscow, according to Russian state media cited in the supplied report. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called the incident a terrorist attack, although authorities had not publicly identified a motive or those responsible.
An unidentified woman approached a private event at the restaurant carrying a package believed to contain an improvised explosive device. The blast occurred before she entered. Authorities said the dead included the woman, a security guard who had stopped her and a customer. State news agency TASS later raised the reported death toll from three to five.
Whether the woman knowingly carried or triggered the bomb remained unclear. The business newspaper Kommersant reported that a guard became suspicious when a courier described the box as a gift and attempted to search her. Citing unnamed sources, it said investigators were considering remote detonation and a preliminary theory that the courier did not know the package held explosives.
Kommersant also reported that the device was equivalent to about one kilogram of TNT and contained metal ball bearings. Those technical details and the remote-detonation theory were not presented as final official findings. The private gathering's security arrangements may have limited access to the outdoor terrace, but investigators had not announced who, if anyone, was specifically targeted.
The explosion occurred at about 8:10 p.m. near the terrace on Kudrinskaya Square, according to TASS, which cited the Interior Ministry's Moscow directorate. The restaurant occupies part of a Stalin-era tower on the Garden Ring in the Presnensky district. Police, emergency crews and an investigative task force were deployed immediately.
Sobyanin promised that those responsible would be found and punished but gave no evidence about possible organizers. Russian authorities had not alleged Ukrainian involvement at the time of the report. The source noted that Moscow has blamed Kyiv for previous attacks on military figures, but that history did not establish responsibility for this bombing.
The restaurant issued condolences to the victims' relatives. Authorities did not immediately release the courier's name or identify the other people killed and injured. They also had not said whether anyone had been detained.
The investigation therefore began with a confirmed mass-casualty blast and several preliminary accounts: a suspicious package, intervention by a guard and a possible remote trigger. Key questions — the courier's knowledge, intended target, motive and organizer — remained unanswered despite the mayor's classification of the event as terrorism. A final forensic report was not available.
