The 2010 Moscow Metro Bombings

The attacks

On the morning of March 29, 2010, two women carried out coordinated suicide attacks on the Moscow Metro. The first explosion occurred on a train at Lubyanka station; the second followed at Park Kultury. In the later criminal case against former police official Gazi Isaev, Russia's Prosecutor General recorded 23 deaths at Lubyanka and 16 at Park Kultury, for a total of 39.

Some international retrospectives have used a toll of 40 after later reporting on victims, while the prosecution records used in the 2021–2023 criminal proceedings consistently state 39. This page uses the later prosecution count and notes the existence of the discrepancy rather than presenting uncertain precision as settled fact.

Investigation and the network around the bombers

Russian investigators attributed the attacks to a militant network associated with the Caucasus Emirate. Public claims of responsibility by militant leadership formed part of the historical context, but a public claim is not equivalent to a criminal judgment against every person alleged to be in the command structure.

The criminal investigation continued for years. Seven alleged members of the relevant group were reported killed in counterterrorism operations between 2010 and 2013. Other suspected participants were detained later, allowing courts to examine specific allegations of facilitation rather than treating the entire network as a single undifferentiated group.

The prosecution of Magomed Nurov

In September 2021, Russia's Prosecutor General approved an indictment against Magomed Nurov. Prosecutors alleged that he acted as a liaison and driver for members of the criminal group, transported participants to meetings where the attacks were planned and concealed one participant from law enforcement. The prosecution notice stated that Nurov admitted the charges.

On February 4, 2022, the 2nd Western District Military Court convicted Nurov of participation in a criminal organization and armed group, committing terrorist acts and related offenses. He received life imprisonment in a special-regime penal colony. The court also granted the Moscow Metro's civil claim for roughly 17 million rubles in property damage.

The prosecution of Gazi Isaev

A separate case later reached trial against Gazi Isaev, a former district police chief in Dagestan. On March 16, 2023, the Prosecutor General reported that the same military court convicted Isaev of using his official position while participating in the criminal organization and armed group connected to the attacks.

The court found that Isaev had transported participants and, shortly before the attacks, helped move one of the suicide bombers through Dagestan. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and stripped of his police rank. The judgment also awarded the Moscow Metro more than 17 million rubles through a civil claim.

Why this file is classified as solved / substantially adjudicated

The identities and roles of the two suicide attackers were established by the investigation, and later courts imposed life sentences on people found criminally responsible for facilitating the operation. That creates a substantial judicial record extending well beyond an unresolved claim of responsibility.

The classification does not imply that every person ever alleged to belong to the wider militant structure was tried for the Moscow attacks. It means that the central attack, the suicide perpetrators and significant facilitating conduct have been judicially addressed in multiple proceedings.

Timeline

Current status

The latest reliable judicial outcomes located for this August 2026 review are the life sentences imposed on Nurov in 2022 and Isaev in 2023. No reliable source located for this update showed either conviction being overturned. The case remains categorized as solved / substantially adjudicated while preserving the distinction between those court findings and broader historical allegations about the militant network.