On 3 April 2017, a terrorist attack using an explosive device took place on the Saint Petersburg Metro between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations.

ISIL propaganda showed bullet holes through Putin's head and a poster circulated before the attack of a falling Kremlin and included the message "We Will Burn Russia.

[16] On 3 April 2017, a device containing 200–300 grams (0.44–0.66 lb) of explosives detonated on a train travelling through a tunnel between the Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations of the Saint Petersburg Metro.

Video from social media showed multiple victims on the platform and a metal door twisted by the force of the blast.

[20] The device had ball bearings, screws, and shrapnel[21] and was hidden within a fire extinguisher containing an equivalent of about 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of TNT.

[24] Local media reported that authorities had found suspicious packages in three Moscow metro stations, Nagatinskaja, Savelovskaya and Ugrezhskaya (CIP).

[9] The Investigative Committee of Russia said the train operator's decision to drive it to the next station helped to avoid an even higher number of casualties.

[27] Two weeks later, FSB released a statement says that Russian security operatives have detained Abror Azimov (born 1990), the alleged mastermind of the bombing, in Moscow in which he trained the suicide attacker.

[42] On 26 April, a group called the Imam Shamil Battalion claimed responsibility for the attack, and said that the bomber was acting on orders from al-Qaeda.

The statement, posted by SITE Intelligence Group, said the bomber, Akbarzhon Jalilov, had acted on instructions from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

[43][44] In considering the incident, researchers had already illustrated that 'analysis should not focus exclusively on recent developments and Daesh', but rather look at the 'broader context' including the 'range of groups with which Central Asian radicals are involved.

Mayor Georgi Poltavchenko, Governor of Leningrad Alexander Drozdenko, and President Vladimir Putin visited the site and laid flowers to pay respect.

[19] Condolences and sympathies for those affected were offered by several international figures, including representatives of Algeria,[54] China,[55] the Czech Republic, Norway,[56] Denmark,[57] Finland,[58] France,[59] Georgia,[60] Hungary,[61][62] India,[55] Indonesia,[63] Iran,[9] Israel,[64] Japan,[65] Laos,[66] Malaysia,[55] Pakistan,[55] Poland,[67][68] Portugal,[69] Singapore,[70] Thailand,[71] Turkey,[72] Ukraine,[73] the United Kingdom, the United States,[74] Vietnam,[75]

In Brussels, where a similar attack took place a year earlier, the ING Marnix building near the Throne metro station was also decorated with a moving Russian flag animation.

[citation needed] At midnight (01:00 of April 5 in Moscow time), the lights of the Eiffel Tower were switched off to honor the victims.