Moscow’s mayor Sergey Sobyanin has described the blast that resulted in three deaths and 21 injured as a “terrorist act” and has promised that those responsible would be brought to justice.The explosion occurred at about 7.55 pm Moscow time on Saturday, August 1, at a restaurant near Kudrinskaya Square, according to Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC).The NAC said a woman attempted to bring an improvised explosive device into the restaurant and was stopped by a security guard. The device exploded, killing the woman, the security guard and one restaurant visitor. Twenty-one people were injured, the committee said.Sobyanin expressed condolences to the families of those killed and said those injured were receiving medical treatment at Moscow hospitals.“Yesterday, a cruel terrorist act that claimed human lives was committed in Moscow,” Sobyanin said in a post on the Max social media platform. “I express the deepest condolences to the families of those killed. I wish the quickest recovery to those injured.”The mayor said law-enforcement agencies were working to establish the circumstances surrounding the blast and vowed that those responsible would be identified and punished.“The perpetrators of this crime will necessarily be found and will face punishment they deserve,” Sobyanin said.The circumstances surrounding the woman who allegedly brought the explosive device to the restaurant remained unclear.Sergey Goncharov, a veteran of Russia’s Alpha counter-terrorism unit, told TASS that the woman may have been acting as an unwitting courier and might not have known what was inside the parcel.Goncharov suggested she could have been offered money to deliver what she was told was an ordinary package to someone attending a celebration.“She was a courier. She was promised good money,” he said, describing a possible scenario in which the woman was told that a friend was celebrating a birthday or anniversary and that her only task was to deliver a parcel to the person.Goncharov said similar cases had occurred previously, while also claiming that Russian authorities regularly arrest alleged Ukrainian intelligence agents and that not every threat can be prevented.His comments were an assessment and not an official finding about the woman’s knowledge or motive. The material provided does not establish whether she knew the package contained an explosive.The NAC said search operations and investigative measures were underway to establish the circumstances of the explosion.The committee identified the device as an improvised explosive device but did not provide details about who assembled it, who allegedly sent it or what the intended target was.The material provided also does not identify the woman, the restaurant visitor or the security guard killed in the blast, nor does it establish who was behind the attack.
