Attack at an Italian restaurant in Moscow: at least five dead. Russian air strikes continue in the Kyiv region

On the evening of 1 August, an explosion occurred in the centre of Moscow, killing at least five people and injuring dozens more, some seriously. According to Russian media, the attack was carried out by a woman who, at around 8.10 pm, detonated a homemade bomb in the Italian restaurant Balzi Rossi. The restaurant, according to several independent media outlets including Novaya Gazeta, was closed for a private party hosted by a general, attended by several military personnel. According to some Russian Telegram channels, also reported by Reuters, among those present at the event was the commander of the Russian Air Force Alexander Chaiko, who took up the post a month and a half ago. The female attacker died in the explosion, along with a security guard who had stopped her and a third person about whom no details are available.

In a statement, the Russian Embassy in Italia accused Ukraine of being responsible for the attack in Moscow. By planning an attack at one of Moscow’s finest Italian restaurants, the statement reads, ‘the Ukrainian terrorists’ sought to ‘intimidate Italians working in Russia, to suggest that they too are in the crosshairs and could at any moment become the next victims of these scoundrels’. ‘The bloodthirsty tentacles of Zelensky’s terrorist gang,’ the embassy continues, ‘have reached as far as the Italian restaurant Balzi Rossi in Moscow. It is only thanks to the vigilance and professional dedication of a Russian security service officer that the Neapolitan chef Carmine Alfieri and the members of his team were not injured.

‘Unfortunately, there have still been casualties: five people have died and nineteen restaurant patrons have suffered serious injuries.’ ‘Does anyone still doubt that the regime in Kyiv is yet another offspring of Al-Qaeda and ISIS?’ the statement adds, asserting that anyone who continues to ‘supply money and weapons’ to the leadership in Kyiv ‘is their accomplice, regardless of the position they hold’. ‘It is now perfectly clear: the explosion at the Balzi Rossi restaurant and the other attacks that have taken place in Russia, Munich and elsewhere,’ the embassy concludes, ‘demonstrate that the scourge of Ukrainian terrorism has reached Europe, and Italia in particular.’

Is the claim that the attack on the Italian restaurant in Moscow was carried out “to intimidate Italians” “a colossal lie”, because “why would the Ukrainians want to intimidate Italians” if our country is standing alongside Kyiv? This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, speaking at the Caffè de La Versiliana in Marina di Pietrasanta (Lucca), in response to comments made by the Russian ambassador in Rome.

Meanwhile, the war on the ground between Russia and Ukraine continues. According to Alexei Likhachev, the director of the Russian state atomic energy agency, Rosatom, a Ukrainian drone crashed ‘a few metres’ from one of the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which is located on Ukrainian territory but is under Russian control. ‘Fortunately, there was no explosion’ and therefore no damage to the power station. ‘Last night,’ Likhachev reported, as quoted by TASS, ‘a drone struck the tunnel connecting the plant’s six units, which is used for staff movement. The attack struck literally a few metres from the reactor building of Unit 3.’