Security Council members expressed condolences to the Chechen people and the Russian government over the assassination of President Akhmad Kadyrov and other senior officials. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Pakistan's UN Ambassador Munir Akram, the current Security Council President, strongly denounced the bombing.

Kofi Annan said such terrorist attacks could not be justified, and they hampered the peace process in Chechnya.

The attack happened during a ceremony marking victory in World War II, with a bomb going off in a VIP seating area of the Dynamo stadium in Grozny. According to official reports, six people were killed in the bombing, but unofficial reports say the death toll is more than 20.

Three days of mourning have been declared to honour Akhmad Kadyrov. Chechen Prime Minister Sergey Abramov has taken over as leader while Mr. Kadyrov's son Ramzan has been made deputy head of the Chechen government. According to the law on the Chechen presidential elections, the election of a new Chechen leader shall be held before September 5, 2004.