A bomb at a banquet

What we know so far about the Moscow restaurant explosion that killed five

An improvised explosive device detonated outside of a Moscow restaurant on Saturday evening, immediately killing three and injuring 21. Two of the wounded later died in the hospital. According to Russian state investigators, a woman attempting to carry a concealed bomb into a private event was stopped by a security guard before the device went off. Journalists have speculated that the intended target could have been a gathering marking the 55th birthday of Alexander Chayko, commander-in-chief of Russia’s Aerospace Forces, though this has not been officially confirmed. Here’s what we know about the bombing so far. 

The explosion occurred around 8pm next to a Stalin-era high-rise on Moscow’s Kudrinskaya Square. Dozens of ambulances and police vehicles quickly converged on the scene, nearby streets were sealed off, and a night cycling festival planned along a nearby road was cancelled.

It soon emerged that the explosion had taken place outside Balzi Rossi, an upscale Italian restaurant on the building's ground floor. The venue was closed to regular customers that evening for a private event.

Telegram channels with ties to Russian security services initially floated the possibility of a gas leak in the kitchen. Several hours later, however, the National Antiterrorism Committee said an improvised explosive device had caused the blast.

According to the committee's account, an unidentified woman tried to carry the bomb into the restaurant but was intercepted by a guard. The device exploded at the entrance, killing the woman, the guard and one other person, and wounding 21. Authorities have not disclosed the victims’ identities.

The newspaper Kommersant, citing its own sources, reported that the device had been hidden inside a box. The exact detonation method has not been made public. The blast was reportedly equivalent to roughly one kilogram of TNT and packed with metal ball bearings, which is why people on the restaurant's terrace were also hurt. Sources told the paper that the woman's body was badly mutilated by the explosion; her arm was found roughly 15 metres from the scene.

Sergey Goncharov, a veteran of the Alpha special forces unit, told TASS he suspected the woman may not have known what was in the box and could have been hired as a courier and told simply to deliver a “gift”.

Neither Vladimir Putin nor his press secretary Dmitry Peskov has publicly commented on the attack. At 12:05am, TASS published a video message from Putin marking Railway Workers' Day; the following morning he issued greetings for Airborne Forces Day. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin briefly commented on the blast the following day, describing it as a “terrorist attack”.

The possible target

According to the most widely circulated, though officially unconfirmed, theory, the private event at Balzi Rossi may have been held in honour of Alexander Chayko, commander-in-chief of Russia's Aerospace Forces.

A source initially told the independent outlet ASTRA that the restaurant was hosting a birthday celebration for an unnamed general, noting that numerous vehicles bearing black licence plates, used by the military and other security agencies, were parked nearby. Balzi Rossi's website had listed the restaurant as closed for a private banquet on 1 August.

Chayko turned 55 on 27 July. Footage on social media that was purportedly filmed inside the restaurant during preparations for the event references the name Alexander and a 55th birthday.

Because Chayko was named head of Russia’s Aerospace Forces recently, some sources speculated he may have been celebrating both his birthday and his new appointment. According to VChK-OGPU, a Telegram channel with links to Russian security forces, the restaurant had been rented out for the evening by an unnamed woman for 9 million rubles (€97,900).

The channel also suggested that the guard who stopped the woman may have been a Federal Protective Service (FSO) officer who, along with several colleagues, was unofficially working security at the banquet. As circumstantial evidence, it pointed to several vehicles parked near the high-rise building that it claimed were associated with FSO-protected facilities.

“All of these hearse-like vehicles are used to provide security for the state-owned President Hotel, which is protected by the FSO. The hotel is run by Sergey Sushkov, the son of Anatoly Sushkov — a former colleague and close friend of Alexander Chayko. The elder Sushkov was present at the event,” the channel claimed.

Guests reportedly included former colleagues of Chayko from various points in his career, State Duma deputies, as well as officials and FSB officers, according to the channel.

ASTRA said it attempted to reach Chayko by phone but received no response. Acquaintances and relatives contacted by journalists declined to say whether he had been at the restaurant or was injured in the blast.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on the explosion.

Alexander Chayko was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces in May 2026, replacing Viktor Afzalov. He previously commanded the 1st Guards Tank Army in the Western Military District, led the Eastern Military District, and served as deputy chief of the General Staff. He also commanded Russia's military contingent in Syria on several occasions and was awarded the title Hero of Russia in 2020.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has accused Chayko of waging a war of aggression and committing war crimes against civilians in the Kyiv region in 2022. At the time, he commanded the 76th Air Assault Division and its 234th Air Assault Regiment.

Reuters has reported that the 76th Division was stationed in Bucha while the town was under Russian occupation. The New York Times also reported that soldiers from the 234th Regiment were involved in atrocities against civilians there. Investigations by the Associated Press and PBS found that senior commanders issued orders to kill civilians in the Kyiv region, which Chayko then approved. The outlets described the Russian military's actions as “strategic and organised brutality”.

The United Kingdom sanctioned Chayko in 2022 over his actions in Syria. In March this year, the European Union also sanctioned him over his alleged role in the Bucha massacre.

How pro-war bloggers reacted

In the hours immediately following the blast, most major pro-war Telegram channels either repeated official statements and media reports or ignored the attack altogether. Prominent military bloggers including Rybar, Yury Podolyaka, WarGonzo, Dva Mayora, Alexander Kots, Yury Kotenok, Alexander Sladkov and Yevgeny Poddubny all declined to comment on the incident, with many not addressing the explosion until the following day.

The channel Alex Parker Returns, meanwhile, praised Ukrainian intelligence and criticised Russia's leadership for having failed to kill a single Ukrainian general since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Journalist Maxim Kalashnikov urged Russian generals to “forget about all the banquets with the whooping and whistling, the extravagance and excess, for a while” while the country is at war. Dirty Harry channel author Igor Gomolsky, originally from Donetsk, criticised Russians for failing to take security seriously, saying people “talk too much, film too much, and post everything online”.

War correspondent Dmitry Steshin said he had no doubt Ukrainians were behind the attack, calling it an act of “desperation” by Kyiv and predicting the EU would “pretend nothing happened”. Pro-war commentator Anastasia Kashevarova argued that Ukraine had scored an information victory by immediately framing the blast as deliberate, while Russian media initially floated a gas explosion — a discrepancy she said would push Russians toward Ukrainian news sources.

The victims

According to the outlet Baza, the death toll rose to five after two of the wounded died in hospital. At least six people remain in serious condition.

Broadcasters REN TV and 112 published a partial list of the injured, noting that one victim suffered a blast-mine injury. The wounded range in age from 20 to 57.

Journalists at independent outlet Verstka and blogger Anatoly Shariy have suggested that one of the injured may be Maria Chayko, Alexander Chayko's daughter, after a 25-year-old “Maria P.” with a traumatic brain injury appeared on unofficial lists of victims. Verstka reported that Maria Chayko is also 25 and has appeared in leaks under the surname Peredriy, believed to be her husband's name. The lists of victims also include a 27-year-old “Daniil P.,” matching leaked information about Daniil Peredriy.

Citing his own sources, Shariy reported that Maria Chayko was injured in the blast and that her husband, Daniil Peredriy, was killed by shrapnel.