Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out a bombing at an Italian restaurant in central Moscow after an explosion on Saturday evening killed five people and injured 19 others. The blast occurred near the entrance to the Balzi Rossi restaurant at Kudrinskaya Square, one of the locations dominated by Moscow’s Stalin-era skyscrapers.
The immediate significance remains uncertain because Russian authorities have not identified the intended target or released the names of the victims. Reports from pro-Kremlin military bloggers and independent Russian media suggest the attack may have been directed at Col Gen Alexander Chaiko, commander of Russia’s aerospace forces, who was reportedly attending a private birthday banquet.
What happened at the Moscow restaurant
Russian prosecutors said an unidentified woman carrying an improvised explosive device tried to enter the restaurant but was stopped by a security guard. The device exploded moments later, killing five people, including the woman, and leaving 19 others injured.
The blast took place outside the upmarket Italian restaurant, which is located in one of the seven Stalin-era skyscrapers on Kudrinskaya Square. Investigators cited by the Russian newspaper Kommersant believe the woman may not have known she was transporting a bomb, raising the possibility that somebody else detonated it remotely.
One reported victim was a member of Russia’s Federal Protective Service, the elite agency responsible for protecting senior officials. Russian authorities have not confirmed the identities of those killed or explained how the device reached the restaurant entrance.
Reports point to a possible military target
Several Russian media outlets and military bloggers reported that Chaiko may have been at a private banquet marking his 55th birthday. Images and videos that appeared online after the explosion, and were said to come from the event, showed a stage bearing the words “Aleksandr 55”.
Chaiko is among Russia’s senior military commanders. He led the unsuccessful assault on Kyiv in early 2022 before later being promoted to head the country’s air force. The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which is known for publishing leaks attributed to Russian security services, said Chaiko was not hurt.
The same channel reported that Chaiko’s daughter, Maria, suffered serious injuries and that her husband, Daniil Peredriy, was killed. It said the couple had been outside on the restaurant terrace when the explosion occurred. These reports, including the claim that Chaiko was the intended target, have not been confirmed by Russian officials.
Russia’s accusation and Ukraine’s silence
Russia’s foreign ministry blamed Kyiv in a statement issued on Sunday, alleging that the attack had been carried out by Ukraine. The ministry used highly charged language, describing the bombing as the work of what it called Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “terrorist gang”.
Kyiv had not commented on the incident at the time of the reports. No evidence publicly described in the supplied accounts establishes Ukraine’s responsibility, and Russian authorities have not announced an identified suspect beyond the woman who was carrying the device.
The accusation comes amid a broader pattern of attacks attributed to Ukrainian intelligence agencies since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Those agencies have targeted senior Russian military officers and Russia-installed officials, accusing them of involvement in war crimes. Their operations have reportedly used both willing participants and civilians who were unaware of the nature of the task.
At least four Russian generals and several other senior military figures have been killed in such attacks, according to the supplied reporting, although some operations missed their targets. In 2022, a car bombing killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of Russian ultranationalist ideologue Aleksandr Dugin, in an attack widely believed to have been intended for her father.
The confirmed facts in Moscow are the death toll, the injuries and the detonation near the restaurant entrance. The central unresolved issue is whether Chaiko was the intended target and who ordered the bombing; Russian investigators have not publicly settled either question, while Kyiv has yet to respond.
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