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The Russian Embassy in Rome blames Ukraine for a deadly bombing at a Moscow restaurant that allegedly targeted a senior general.

The Russian Embassy in Rome attributed a deadly bombing at the Balzi Rossi restaurant in Moscow to Ukraine, describing the attack as a deliberate attempt to intimidate the Italian community in Russia. The explosion, which occurred on August 1, 2026, killed five people and injured 19 others. While the National Anti-Terrorism Committee initially reported a lower death toll, the embassy confirmed the final count of five fatalities. Russian authorities suggested that an unidentified woman carried an improvised explosive device into the restaurant, where she was stopped by a security guard before the bomb detonated remotely. Several media outlets reported that Col. Gen. Alexander Chaiko, the head of Russia’s Aerospace Forces, was allegedly the target of the blast while celebrating his birthday. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin condemned the event as a "brutal terrorist act." The administration's efforts to maintain a sense of normalcy in Moscow have been noted by analysts as a potential security blind spot that Ukraine has exploited to conduct asymmetric warfare against Russian military elites.

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