An explosion occurred outside the Balzi Rossi restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square in central Moscow on the evening of August 1. Russian authorities initially reported at least three people killed and 21 injured.
Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said an explosive device was being carried by a woman who attempted to enter the restaurant and was stopped by a security guard.
According to the Russian authorities’ account, the woman, the security guard and one other person were killed in the blast.
Russian media later reported that two more injured people had died in hospitals, potentially raising the death toll to five. At the time, however, investigators had not provided consistent public confirmation of the final number of fatalities.
Who organized the explosion, what the motive was and whether the attackers had a specific target had not been publicly established. No one claimed responsibility.
The blast itself, at least three deaths and more than 20 injuries were therefore confirmed at the time of the initial reports, while the remaining circumstances were still under investigation.