This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
Bomb Attacks in Russia Echo Threats by Chechen Insurgent
Putin, After Silence, Condemns Bombings in Volgograd
(about 4 hours later)
MOSCOW — Twin terrorist attacks in the city of Volgograd within 24 hours injected new urgency on Monday into Russia’s long, ruthless effort to contain a diffuse Islamic insurgency on its southern border, one nominally led by a veteran, battle-scarred Chechen often called Russia’s Osama bin Laden.
MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin on Tuesday broke two days of silence on the twin bombings in Volgograd, calling them “inhumane terrorist acts” and vowing that Russia would continue to fight terrorists until “their complete destruction.”
The attacks, coming only six weeks before the opening of the Olympics just 400 miles away, sowed widespread fear across the country. On Monday morning, a suicide bomber gutted a crowded electric trolley bus in Volgograd a little more than a mile and a half from the city’s main railroad station, where a similar attack took place on Sunday.
On a day when the death toll from the attacks climbed to 34, Mr. Putin made his remarks during a New Year’s message that Russian and, before them, Soviet leaders have traditional given on the country’s most celebrated holiday.
The death toll in the two attacks continued to rise on Tuesday as victims died at hospitals. A Health Ministry spokesman told the Interfax news agency that 18 people had now died as a result of the bombing at the train station, while 16 died in the trolley bus attack. More than 60 people remained hospitalized, with some of the most gravely wounded flown to Moscow for treatment.
The bombings have tempered official celebrations somewhat, especially in Volgograd, a city of 1 million in central Russia that has now endured three suicide bombings since October. By Tuesday more than 5,000 extra interior troops had surged into the city, carrying out searches that resulted in dozens of detentions, though apparently not of anyone involved in the bombings.
The investigation into the bombings is just getting underway, but the attention of the Russian security services is already focused on the republic of Dagestan, which has become the hub of Muslim separatist violence in recent years, and on connections to the insurgent leader, Doku Umarov. He is a mysterious, almost mythical figure who fought in both Chechnya wars, which began nearly two decades ago and have come to symbolize the radicalization of a movement that began as a struggle for independence.
The latest bombings — at Volgograd’s railroad station on Sunday and aboard a trolley bus on Monday — have heightened concerns about security here ahead of the Winter Olympics, which begin in less than six weeks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, only 400 miles from Volgograd. Experts have warned that they could be a prelude to a campaign of terror by followers of Russia’s most-wanted militant, Doku Umarov, who in July vowed to disrupt the Olympics.
Mr. Umarov’s influence had seemed to be waning in recent years, until he surfaced in a video in July, ordering his followers to do whatever was possible to attack Russia as it prepared to be the host of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Volgograd, Mr. Umarov’s threats, largely ignored at the time, suddenly seemed ominous, chillingly citing Russia’s transportation networks as potential targets.
In his address, Mr. Putin mentioned Sochi only in passing, citing the coming task of hosting the Games “at the highest level.” On the issue of terrorism, he resorted to the kind of forceful, if less coarse, language that first propelled him to the office when in 1999, as prime minister under President Boris N. Yeltsin, who vowed to hunt down terrorists and, if necessary, “waste them in the outhouse.”
Now, experts say, the question is whether the suicide bombings in Volgograd and one previous attack there are the first volleys in Mr. Umarov’s promised campaign to disrupt the Olympic Games and discredit the government of President Vladimir V. Putin.
Fourteen years later, despite the end of the second war in Chechnya, Mr. Putin found himself vowing yet again to crush a threat that has now spread across the North Caucasus.
“The big question is will there be this sort of wave,” said Gordon M. Hahn, a senior associate with the Center of Strategic and International Studies who has written extensively on Islamic terror groups in the Caucasus. “This is already a pretty high level — the fact that they pulled off three suicide bombings in Volgograd in two months. If their idea is to build up a crescendo, they have to take it easy because they’ll have to do something really big.”
“Dear friends, we bow our heads to the victims of violent terrorist attacks,” Mr. Putin said, pledging aid to the victims and reconstruction of the damaged buildings. “I am sure we will continue the fight against terrorists harshly and consistently until their complete destruction.”
The attacks prompted false reports of other bombings in Volgograd and the brief evacuation of Red Square here in Moscow after a woman left a package or bag near St. Basil’s Cathedral. They also called into question Russia’s preparedness for an international sporting event that Mr. Putin and others intend to be a showcase of the country’s revival since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Mr. Putin delivered his remarks during a previously unannounced visit to Khabarovsk, the capital of the region in the Far East that suffered significant flooding this year that has left thousands of people still living in temporary shelters. In referring to the challenges facing Russia, he included natural disasters like the flooding with the terrorist attacks in Volgograd. “In times of trial, Russia has always been united,” he said.
Mr. Putin addressed the bombings on Tuesday for the first time, offering the New Year’s greetings that Russian and, before them, Soviet leaders have traditionally given. He referred to the bombings as “inhumane terrorist acts” and resorted to the kind of forceful, if less coarse language that first propelled him to office as prime minister during the second war in Chechnya in 1999.
Mr. Putin initially recorded a holiday address that made no mention of the bombings. The video, which was prerecorded, showed him at the Kremlin. It appeared at midnight in Russia’s easternmost regions – Chukotka, Kamchatka and Magadan – and promptly raised questions of whether he intended to continue to avoid the topic.
“Dear friends, we bow our heads to the victims of violent terrorist attacks,” he said, pledging aid to the victims and reconstruction of the damaged buildings. “I am sure we will continue the fight against terrorists ruthlessly and consistently until their complete destruction.” In 1999, he defended the initial bombardment of Chechnya by vowing to hunt down terrorists and, if necessary, “waste them in the outhouse.”
By the time Mr. Putin arrived in Khabarovsk, however, he had been recorded giving the new remarks, acknowledging that he was breaking with the tradition of leaders’ speaking from the Kremlin. That recording did not reach the other regions in time for broadcast at midnight, but it appeared on state television channels as the New Year arrived in each of the country’s nine time zones.
Mr. Putin delivered his remarks during a previously announced visit to Khabarovsk, the capital of the region in the Far East that suffered significant flooding this year that has left thousands of people still living in temporary shelters. In referring to the challenges facing Russia, he included natural disasters like the flooding and the terrorist attacks in Volgograd.
In Volgograd, interior troops and police officers swept through the city carrying out searches that began on Monday night and resulted in the detention of dozens of people for various violations, including improper documents. Mr. Putin had previously ordered heightened security throughout the country, and especially in Volgograd, where the heavy security presence underscored the fear that still more attacks could occur there.
The initial holiday address, a prerecorded video by Mr. Putin, made no mention of the bombings. The video showed him at the Kremlin. It appeared at midnight in Russia’s easternmost regions – Chukotka, Kamchatka and Magadan – and promptly raised questions of whether he intended to continue to avoid the topic.
An Interior Ministry spokesman, Andrei Pilipchuk, told the Interfax news agency that more than 152 weapons and 10 pounds of illegal drugs had been confiscated after searches in scores of apartment buildings, hotels, and bus and railway stations. “The city’s life is returning to normal,” he said.
But by the time Mr. Putin arrived in Khabarovsk, he was recorded giving the new remarks, saying in them that he was breaking with the tradition of speaking from the Kremlin. That recording did not reach the other regions in time for broadcast, but the new one appeared as the New Year arrived in each of the country’s nine time zones.
Even so, public gatherings to mark the New Year there were canceled, movie theaters were ordered closed and security guards thoroughly searched anyone entering shopping centers that would normally be crowded with revelers buying last-minute gifts and food for the holiday.
In Volgograd, a city of about 1 million people formerly known as Stalingrad, thousands of interior troops swept through the city carrying out searches that began on Monday night and resulted in the detention of dozens of people, though apparently no one involved in the two bombings. Mr. Putin had previously ordered heightened security throughout the country, and especially in Volgograd. On Monday large columns of interior troops were seen driving into the city.
A health official announced on Tuesday that the death toll had risen in each bombing with the deaths overnight of victims at hospitals. The number of people killed at the train station bombing reached 18, while 16 died in the trolley bus attack. More than 60 people remained hospitalized, with some of the most gravely wounded flown to Moscow for treatment.
An Interior Ministry spokesman, Andrei Pilipchuk, told Interfax that more than 152 weapons and 10 pounds of illegal drugs had been confiscated during the operation after inspections in hotels, apartment buildings and bus and railway stations. “The city’s life is returning to normal,” he said.
The authorities have said male suicide bombers carried out the two attacks, but they have not identified either or announced any arrests related to them.
Vladimir I. Markin, a spokesman for the main national criminal investigation agency in Russia, the Investigative Committee, said a man had carried out Monday’s attack, detonating a bomb with more than eight pounds of explosives on trolley bus No. 15, which witnesses said had been full of morning commuters. In a statement, Mr. Markin said the bombs used in both attacks were similar, packed with shrapnel to make them more lethal. He cited the weapons as evidence that the two attacks were connected. “It’s possible they were prepared in one place,” he said of the bombs.
News reports based on an unidentified source cited by Interfax on Monday said the investigation had focused on a Muslim convert from the central region of Mari El as the bomber at the train station, but the spokesman for Russia’s main investigative agency, Vladimir I. Markin, said in a telephone interview that the man was not a suspect and that the reports were merely rumors.
Mr. Umarov has previously claimed responsibility for some of the most devastating suicide attacks in recent years, including ones that struck the Moscow subway system in 2010 and the city’s Domodedovo Airport in 2011. Neither he nor his organization has claimed responsibility for the Volgograd bombings.
Nikolay
Khalip and Viktor Klimenko contributed reporting.
Mr. Umarov was crushed after the second war in Chechnya by Mr. Putin’s defiant refusal to negotiate with fighters he dismissed as terrorists. In response, he repurposed himself as a proponent of global jihad, declaring himself the tactical and inspirational leader of a Caucasus Emirate that few people in the region embrace. Then, in July, he issued his manifesto on the Sochi Games.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday denouncing “provocative appeals” by terrorists like Mr. Umarov, while blaming unspecified politicians and others around the world for “flirting” with them. Mr. Umarov and his group have been declared terrorists by the United Nations, and, since 2011, the State Department has offered a reward of $5 million for information leading to his arrest.
The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, released a statement on Monday condemning the attacks but expressing confidence that Russia would adequately secure the Sochi Games. “I am certain that everything will be done to ensure the security of the athletes and all the participants of the Olympic Games,” he said.
Aleksandr D. Zhukov, the president of Russia’s Olympic Committee and the first deputy speaker of Parliament, said that all necessary security measures had been taken to protect athletes and visitors in Sochi. “No additional security measures will be taken in Sochi in light of the terrorist attack,” he said, according to the Interfax news agency. “Everything necessary has been done.”
His remarks did not address the threat outside of Sochi, however. With security already heavily tightened there, experts have warned that those who want to disrupt the Olympics might turn to “softer” targets elsewhere.
David M. Herszenhorn, Nikolay Khalip and Viktor Klimenko contributed reporting.
