Woman dressed as courier killed ‘targetting Putin’s top brass’ in terror blast at Moscow private banquet

A bomb being carried by a female courier detonated as she tried to deliver a ‘present’ to a private event at an Italian restaurant in Moscow.

A woman attempted to deliver TNT,disguised as a gift,into Balzi Rossi,but a security guard refused to let her in,reported Russian outlet Ria Novosti.

The blast on the upscale Italian establishment in central Moscow,killed the guard,the woman bomber and another guest,Russian state media said.

The device,filled with metal pellets,was detonated remotely after being presented to security as a ‘gift’.

At least three people were killed in the blast (Picture: east2west news)

According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs,more than 20 people were injured.

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Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.The Kommersant daily suggested that the woman carrying the bomb may not have known about it,and that it had been set off remotely by someone else.Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called the bomb attack in the capital ‘brutal terrorist act,’ but did not say who was responsible.‘Yesterday,a brutal terrorist act was committed in Moscow that claimed human lives.Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the bomb was carried by an unidentified woman who attempted to enter the restaurant (Picture: Reuters)‘The victims are currently in the city’s hospitals,where they are receiving all necessary care,’ Sobyanin wrote on social media Sunday.He added that a probe into the attack was underway. ‘Those responsible for committing this crime will certainly be found and will face the punishment they deserve,’ he wrote.At least 21 people were wounded when the explosive device detonated at the restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square,the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said.There was no further information from Russian authorities,and no one had publicly claimed responsibility.

Who was the target?

It has been unconfirmed,so far.But the Moscow restaurant was reportedly being booked out for the 55th birthday of General Colonel Alexander Chaika,the new commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces.Chaiko,who was not reportedly injured in the blast,was sanctioned by the Council of the European Union,for his role commanding Russian forces around Kyiv around the time that over 400 Ukrainian civilians were massacred in the city of Bucha,.Many of the proven war crimes in Bucha in the last days of the massacre were ‘clearing’ missions personally ordered and signed by Chaiko,according to AP.Russian bloggers have pointed at Kyiv after the blast,but Ukraine has not claimed responsibility.