Russian Foreign Ministry on Balzi Rossi restaurant blast in Moscow: ‘Kyiv terrorists wanted to scare Italians working in Russia’
The Russian Embassy in Italy accused Ukraine of involvement in the explosion at Moscow’s Balzi Rossi restaurant.
In a statement, the embassy said “the bloody tentacles of Zelensky’s terrorist gang have reached an Italian restaurant in Moscow”:
Only thanks to the vigilance and selfless devotion to his professional duty of a Russian security service officer, the Naples-born chef K. Alfieri and members of his team were not injured. […] It is clear that in planning a terrorist attack at one of Moscow’s best Italian restaurants, the Kyiv terrorists wanted to scare Italians working in Russia, to show them that they too are in the crosshairs and could become the scoundrels’ next victims at any moment.
The embassy claimed that the explosion killed five people at Balzi Rossi, while another 19 patrons “sustained serious injuries.” The National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC), citing official data shortly after the blast, put the death toll at three and the number of injured at 21. Telegram channels close to security officials later reported that the toll had risen to five, though authorities have not officially confirmed this.
An explosion tore through the Balzi Rossi restaurant, on the ground floor of a Stalin-era high-rise on Barrikadnaya Street in Moscow, on the evening of August 1. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee stated that a homemade device exploded after a young woman tried to carry it into the restaurant. She was killed in the blast, along with a security guard who tried to stop her and one of the restaurant’s patrons, according to official data.
Telegram channels reported that the intended target was Alexander Chayko, commander-in-chief of Russia’s Aerospace Forces, who had been appointed to the post only that spring. Some reports said he was at the restaurant celebrating both his birthday and his appointment. Authorities have not officially commented on this. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called the explosion at Balzi Rossi a terrorist attack.
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