diff --git a/crates/buzz-relay/src/handlers/event.rs b/crates/buzz-relay/src/handlers/event.rs
index a9cdffcdec..e5ae41a3fe 100644
--- a/crates/buzz-relay/src/handlers/event.rs
+++ b/crates/buzz-relay/src/handlers/event.rs
@@ -600,6 +600,47 @@ async fn enqueue_event_created_audit(
     }
 }
 
+/// Enqueue an [`AuditAction::EventDeleted`] entry for a NIP-09 deletion.
+///
+/// Mirrors [`enqueue_event_created_audit`] (same bounded channel, same
+/// propensity to propagate backpressure rather than silently drop entries,
+/// same no-op when `audit_tx` is `None`). The `actor_pubkey_hex` here is the
+/// pubkey that *signed* the NIP-09 kind:5 event — i.e. the human/user asking
+/// for the delete — not the relay key and not the (now-tombstoned) target
+/// event's author. `deletion_path` distinguishes which NIP-09 path fired so
+/// the audit log reflects operator intent: `"e_tag"` for the standard
+/// `["e", <id>]` soft-delete, `"a_tag"` for the addressable-coordinate
+/// variant.
+pub(super) async fn enqueue_event_deleted_audit(
+    tenant: &TenantContext,
+    state: &Arc<AppState>,
+    actor_pubkey_hex: &str,
+    target_event_id_hex: &str,
+    channel_id: Option<uuid::Uuid>,
+    event_kind_u32: Option<u32>,
+    deletion_path: &'static str,
+) {
+    let Some(audit_tx) = &state.audit_tx else {
+        return;
+    };
+    let detail = serde_json::json!({
+        "event_kind": event_kind_u32,
+        "channel_id": channel_id.map(|c| c.to_string()),
+        "deletion_path": deletion_path,
+    });
+    let audit_entry = buzz_audit::NewAuditEntry {
+        community_id: tenant.community(),
+        action: buzz_audit::AuditAction::EventDeleted,
+        actor_pubkey: hex::decode(actor_pubkey_hex).ok(),
+        object_id: Some(target_event_id_hex.to_owned()),
+        detail,
+    };
+    if let Err(e) = audit_tx.send(audit_entry).await {
+        error!(target_event_id = %target_event_id_hex, "Audit channel closed — entry lost: {e}");
+        metrics::counter!("buzz_audit_send_errors_total").increment(1);
+    }
+}
+
 /// Handle an EVENT message from a WebSocket connection.
 ///
 /// Extracts auth from the WS connection, dispatches ephemeral events locally,
diff --git a/crates/buzz-relay/src/handlers/side_effects.rs b/crates/buzz-relay/src/handlers/side_effects.rs
index 660a55fef3..a8a1bd1ab7 100644
--- a/crates/buzz-relay/src/handlers/side_effects.rs
+++ b/crates/buzz-relay/src/handlers/side_effects.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ use buzz_core::kind::{
 use buzz_core::StoredEvent;
 use buzz_db::channel::{MemberRecord, MemberRole};
 
-use super::event::dispatch_persistent_event;
+use super::event::{dispatch_persistent_event, enqueue_event_deleted_audit};
 use crate::protocol::RelayMessage;
 use crate::state::AppState;
 use buzz_core::tenant::TenantContext;
@@ -1731,6 +1731,19 @@ async fn handle_delete_event_side_effect(
         return Ok(()); // No-op: skip system message to avoid false audit records.
     }
 
+    // Best-effort domain audit; failure must never break the deletion flow.
+    // The actor is the NIP-29 kind-9005 moderation signer (`event.pubkey`).
+    enqueue_event_deleted_audit(
+        tenant,
+        state,
+        &hex::encode(event.pubkey.to_bytes()),
+        &hex::encode(&target_id),
+        Some(channel_id),
+        None, // kind of the deleted event is not known to this handler
+        "moderation_e_tag",
+    )
+    .await;
+
     // Thread counters were decremented in the same transaction — push a fresh
     // relay-signed 39005 so live badge counts also count *down*.
     if let Some(root_id) = root_id {
@@ -2191,6 +2204,20 @@ async fn handle_a_tag_deletion(
                     d_tag = d_tag,
                     "NIP-09 a-tag deletion: soft-deleted addressable event by coordinate"
                 );
+
+                // Best-effort domain audit. Actor is the NIP-09 signer. Object id
+                // is the coordinate (<kind>:<pubkey>:<d_tag>) — stable across a
+                // replace and resolvable by the operator to the deleted row.
+                enqueue_event_deleted_audit(
+                    tenant,
+                    state,
+                    &hex::encode(event.pubkey.to_bytes()),
+                    &format!("{kind_i32}:{pubkey_hex}:{d_tag}"),
+                    None,
+                    Some(k),
+                    "a_tag",
+                )
+                .await;
             } else {
                 tracing::debug!(
                     kind = k,
@@ -2262,6 +2289,20 @@ async fn handle_standard_deletion_event(
             continue;
         }
 
+        // Best-effort domain audit; failure must never break the deletion flow.
+        // The actor is the NIP-09 kind:5 signer (`event.pubkey`). The target
+        // event's own kind/channel travel in the detail for post-hoc queryability.
+        enqueue_event_deleted_audit(
+            tenant,
+            state,
+            &hex::encode(event.pubkey.to_bytes()),
+            &hex::encode(&target_id),
+            target_event.channel_id,
+            Some(u32::from(target_event.event.kind.as_u16())),
+            "e_tag",
+        )
+        .await;
+
         // Thread counters were decremented in the same transaction — push a
         // fresh relay-signed 39005 so live badge counts also count *down*.
         if let (Some(root_id), Some(channel_id)) = (root_id, target_event.channel_id) {