Russia probes two car bombs in Moscow

The Kremlin is seen in Moscow, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)

MOSCOW -- Russian investigators said on Wednesday that they had arrested at least two suspects behind a car bombing in Moscow, detaining teenagers who the domestic security service said were convinced to plant the bomb.

There were two car bombs on Tuesday in Moscow - one which detonated in the morning in eastern Moscow and one which was identified by security services in southwestern Moscow.

Russia’s state Investigative Committee said that a criminal case had been opened in relation to the bomb in southwestern Moscow which targetted an employee of a scientific production enterprise. It was not clear how that device detonated.

The investigation established that a teenage girl was told by unidentified people to pick up the bomb and handed it to a teenage boy who placed it on the car along with a GPS tracker, the committee said.

There were no casualties and the suspects have been charged.

In a separate car bomb in eastern Moscow, a driver was killed, according to the Kommersant newspaper, though the victim has not been named.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there had been an explosion but that the details could not be disclosed while an investigation was ongoing.

“An explosion took place, but the details, as you understand, are not subject to disclosure in connection with the investigation that is underway,” Peskov said. “Of course, this is a matter for our special services.”

It was unclear whether any arrests had been made in connection to the second bomb.

Since the start of the war in 2022, Ukrainian military intelligence has claimed responsibility for assassinating several senior Russian officers, some of whom have appeared on a public list of Ukraine’s enemies.

Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Aidan Lewis, Reuters