2010 Moscow Metro bombings

On the morning of March 29, 2010, two suicide bombings struck the Moscow Metro during rush hour, roughly 40 minutes apart, at Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations. At least 40 people were killed and over 100 injured, in what Russian officials described as the deadliest attack on the Russian capital in six years, referencing 2004 metro bombings. An estimated 500,000 people were commuting through the system at the time.

The first explosion occurred at approximately 7:56 am local time when a woman detonated explosives equivalent to up to 1.5 kg of TNT after the doors opened on a train at Lubyanka station, killing 15 people on board and 11 on the platform. The second explosion followed at approximately 8:38 am at Park Kultury station, carried out by a woman carrying the equivalent of 2 kg of TNT, killing 14 commuters. Both devices were packed with metal nuts, bolts and screws to maximize damage, and are believed to have been detonated via mobile phone devices. Panic and stampedes followed at both stations. Victims ranged in age from 16 to 65, including three minors; two additional deaths resulted from stampedes. A Black Sea Fleet officer, Captain Viktor Ginkut, was among those killed at Park Kultury.

Russian authorities identified the two bombers as Dzhanet Abdullayeva, widow of insurgent Umalat Magomedov, and Maryam Sharipova, a 28-year-old schoolteacher from Dagestan, identified by her father. Investigators believed male accomplices had rented an apartment, escorted the women to a station in southwest Moscow, provided the explosive belts, and then remotely triggered the detonations from the apartment. FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov said the investigation pointed to groups linked to the North Caucasus, and on May 13, 2010, he announced that all members of the group behind the attack had been identified, with three killed during an attempted arrest, including the man who had escorted the bombers from Dagestan to Moscow.

Two days after the attack, Caucasus Emirate leader Doku Umarov claimed responsibility in an internet video, stating the attacks were ordered by him in revenge for killings of Chechen and Ingush civilians by Russian security forces near Arshty in February 2010, and warned further attacks would follow unless Russia granted independence to Muslim states in the North Caucasus. The Caucasus Emirate had initially denied responsibility. In August 2010, Russia's Anti-Terror Committee confirmed that Magomedali Vagabov — believed to be a militant behind the bombings, a close associate of Umarov, and the husband of bomber Maryam Sharipova — was killed along with four other militants during an operation in Dagestan. A man accused of bringing the suicide bombers to Moscow was arrested in July 2010.

The bombings were followed by further attacks in Dagestan and Ingushetia within days, which Russian officials linked to the Moscow attack. In response, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered compensation payments to victims' families, March 30 was declared a national day of mourning, and heightened security measures were imposed on the Moscow Metro through mid-May 2010. Daily commuter numbers on the metro fell by 17% the day after the attack.