After Peru's socialist government and the Soviet Union established relations in 1969, the latter opened an embassy in the district of San Isidro.

[2] The terrorist group Sendero Luminoso had already carried out incidents outside the Soviet embassy for years, mainly due to ideological discrepancies in the left spectrum.

[3] One such example happened the year prior, as the Soviet, American and Chinese embassies were attacked in a similar manner.

[3] Among the chaos caused by the initial attack, one of the shooters managed to enter the interior of the Soviet residence where he tried to explode a bomb that he was carrying with him, the explosion of the attack failed to cause deaths beyond the suicide bomber himself.

[6] The Soviet Foreign Ministry paid a visit to Peru, represented by Vice Minister Viktor Komplektov, who in turn represented the government of Mikhail Gorbachev, and reported that the then Peruvian President Alan García received Soviet support in his war against Shining Path.