2003 Red Square bombing

On 9 December 2003, a suicide bombing occurred on Mokhovaya Street in Moscow, close to the Moscow Kremlin. According to police, a female suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt on the busy street, killing six people and injuring 14 others.

Moscow's mayor at the time, Yuri Luzhkov, reported speculation that the bomber may have intended to target the nearby Moscow City Hall or the State Duma rather than the location where the device was detonated.

According to the subsequent investigation, the suicide bomber was identified as Khadishat Mangerieva (also referred to in some sources as Khedizhi Mangerieva), the widow of Ruslan Mangeriev, a Chechen rebel commander from the Kurchaloyevsky District who had been killed during the Second Chechen War.

One of the people killed in the bombing, Inga (also referred to as Inna) Gizoeva, was at one point suspected by some reporting to have acted as a helper to Mangerieva. Following speculation of this kind, several Russian newspapers subsequently printed apologies to Gizoeva's parents.

Contemporaneous news coverage from BBC News and CNN reported on the bombing at the time it occurred, including reporting on the search for the bomber described in coverage as a "female bomber." These outlets are cited here as corroborating references to the case's occurrence and general contemporaneous reporting; specific factual details in this dossier are drawn from the Wikipedia summary of the case.