A Woman Carrying a Bomb Was Stopped at the Door of a Moscow Restaurant. The Device Went Off Anyway.

MOSCOW — A homemade bomb exploded outside an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on Saturday evening, killing two people and the woman suspected of carrying the device, and injuring 21 others, according to Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee as cited by the state news agency RIA Novosti.

The blast happened around 8:10 p.m. local time near an outdoor terrace at Building 1 on Kudrinskaya Square, at the entrance to Balzi Rossi. Investigators said an unidentified woman tried to enter the restaurant carrying what they believe was an improvised explosive device. A security guard stopped her at the door. The device detonated before she got inside, killing the guard, a restaurant customer and the woman.

Russian authorities did not immediately identify the woman, name a motive, or say whether she deliberately triggered the device. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said only that an explosive device was to blame, and an investigative task force was working at the scene alongside emergency crews.

The restaurant was closed to the public at the time for a private banquet, according to its own website. Local reports said a senior Russian general was celebrating a birthday there, a detail Russian officials did not confirm.

The address is one of Moscow's most recognizable. The Kudrinskaya Square Building is one of the "Seven Sisters," the group of Stalinist skyscrapers put up in the 1950s, and it sits on the Garden Ring in the central Presnensky district. Balzi Rossi occupies space at the base of the tower. The building is residential above the commercial floors, which is why the outdoor terrace where the device went off is surrounded by apartments.

Balzi Rossi's chef, Carmine Alfieri, posted a message thanking people for their support and said the staff were unhurt. "We're all fine, and our restaurant and kitchen are in perfect condition," he wrote, describing the incident as a minor issue — a characterization sharply at odds with the casualty figures released by the anti-terrorism committee.

The bombing is the latest in a string of attacks inside Russia during the war in Ukraine, several of which have targeted military officers and defense-linked figures in Moscow itself. In February, a bomb killed a police officer in the capital on the anniversary of the full-scale invasion. Russian investigators have blamed earlier assassinations on Ukrainian intelligence; Kyiv has claimed responsibility for some and stayed silent on others. No one had claimed Saturday's blast by late evening.

Casualty counts moved through the night. Early reports from the Interior Ministry directorate put the toll at three dead and more than 15 wounded; the anti-terrorism committee later put the injured at 21. Russian outlets said several of the wounded were in serious condition.