The rebel Chechen government denied it was responsible for the blast. It was another in the series of suicide bombings and other attacks in and around Chechnya and Moscow in 2003.[2]
As of December 2009, there were no arrests or convictions for this explosion.
Another train following the same route was bombed on September 3, 2003, killing 7 and injuring more than 80. Ibragim Israpilov, former local official from Chechnya, was convicted in 2004 for organizing that blast and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.[3] He is sometimes erroneously reported as being behind the December 5 bombing.