Russia’s ongoing struggle to contain an Islamic insurgency in the North Caucasus was brutally brought home to Muscovites this week as two “black widows” – female suicide bombers – blew themselves up during rush hour on the Moscow metro, killing 39 people and injuring more than 70.
In what is believed to be partly a response to a recent string of Russian successes in killing senior militants in the North Caucasus, the bombers detonated their explosives on the platforms of two metro stations. It is thought the stations were chosen because of their symbolic locations. The Lubyanka metro is adjacent to the headquarters of the Russian secret police, the Federal Security Service, while Park Kultury is close to the interior ministry.
The Kremlin was quick to confirm suspicions that the two bombers had links to the troubled North Caucasus region. Alexander Bortnikov, director of the FSB, said: “According to preliminary information, these acts were committed by terror groups linked to the North Caucasus. We will consider this the main version of events as the bodies of two female suicide bombers who were residing in the North Caucasus were found at the sites.”
Suspicion as to who organised the terrorist attacks has inevitably fallen on the leader of the Chechen insurgency, Doku Umarov, who has vowed in the past to bring the war in the North Caucasus to the heart of Russia.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised that those behind the attacks will be “scraped from the bottom of the sewers and destroyed”.
