St Petersburg

Why Suspicion Over St Petersburg Metro Attack Is Likely To Fall On Islamist Groups

... rather than mass slaughter as their primary goal. Later, the Chechen independence movement renamed itself the Caucasus Emirate, which sought to impose an Islamic state across the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region, and drew fighters from neighbouring republics such as Dagestan. The Caucasus Emirate took responsibility for a 2009 train bombing, the 2010 Moscow metro bombings and the 2011 suicide attack at the city’s Domodedovo airport. Doku Umarov, the self-styled emir of the insurgency movement, was killed in 2013, apparently after Russian security services sent poisoned food to him through middle men. Since then the group’s ability to strike at the heart of Russia has appeared to be on the wane. Inside Chechnya, there have been reports of torture and of punitive house burning of families believed to have links to the insurgency. ...

The Likely Culprits Behind The St. Petersburg Bombing

... wars with these separatists since the 19 th century. Peter Bergen. David Sterman. Leo Tolstoy served in an artillery regiment in the Caucasus and wrote about his experience in "The Cossacks," saying of the Chechens: "No one spoke of hatred for the Russians. The feeling which the Chechens felt, both young and old, was stronger than hatred.". That hatred lingers. In 2002, Chechen militants raided a Moscow theater, where they took hundreds hostage and 130 were killed. Two years later, Chechen militants bombed a metro station in Moscow, killing 39. In 2004, Chechen militants took hundreds of students and others hostage at a school in Beslan. The resultant multi-day siege, which Russia broke with the use of tanks, resulted in more than 300 deaths. Read More. Militants continued such attacks through the late 2000 s. In 2009, militants reportedly directed by the Caucasus Emirate, an Islamist group run by the Chechen ...

St Petersburg Metro Explosion Suspect 'from Central Asia

... Image copyright AFP/Getty Images. Image caption The badly-damaged train came to a stop at the Tekhnologichesky Institut station. World leaders rallied behind Russia in condemning the blast. The White House said President Donald Trump had spoken to Mr Putin by phone and offered "full support" in bringing those responsible to justice. "Both President Trump and President Putin agreed that terrorism must be decisively and quickly defeated," a statement said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the blast as a "barbaric act" and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Europe's thoughts were with the Russian people. First images from the scene showed a train at Tekhnologichesky Institut station with a hole blown in its side and wounded passengers on the platform. Initial reports suggested there had been two explosions, ...

St. Petersburg Isn't Saving Money For A New Tampa Bay Rays Stadium, But Says It Can Help Pay For One

... helping the homeless. In the next fiscal year, it will be spent on the city's new police headquarters. But if St. Petersburg were to keep the Rays — the team has long eyed a Tampa stadium — should the city be squirreling away that money to help build a stadium. Mayor Rick Kriseman doesn't seem to think so. If the Rays wish to stay, he said St. Petersburg will be able to help pay for a stadium in much the same way it helped pay to build what is now known as the Trop in 1990: construction bonds financed by the city and the county's tourist tax. The city also has a new funding source it didn't have three decades ago: the future development rights to Tropicana Field. "I'm confident that the financing isn't going to be a challenge," the mayor said. Kriseman wouldn't discuss specifics about financing a new stadium before the team makes its choice. He said he doesn't want to start negotiating in public. But other city officials ...

St. Petersburg Subway Train Blast Kills At Least 10

... a suggestion that that's a possibility. More likely, though, is ISIS, frankly. Russia, of course, went into Syria, where they've been combating ISIS in theory, although many would say that they're also supporting the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. And of course, St. Petersburg has been no stranger to tragedy through terrorism. The Metrojet Flight 9268 just in October of 2015 was shot down over Egypt, and that killed 200. And that was actually ISIS's doing. GREENE: And we should remember, I mean, this is a country - Russia - that has a history of dealing with incredibly painful terrorist attacks. Looking back to the time of the wars with Chechnya, many people wondering if some of that was provoked by Vladimir Putin going to war in Chechnya. But, I mean, a lot of innocent people have been killed in attacks like this in this country. This is not new. MAYNES: That's right. And Vladimir Putin, of course, with his incursion into Syria, we had ISIS declaring war on ...

St Petersburg Metro Explosion Was 'deafening', Witness Says

... At least 11 people died in the explosion , which left dozens more injured. Authorities say it's too early to know whether it was a terror attack. St Petersburg resident Natalya Kirillova was inside the carriage and described hearing a "huge bang". "It was deafening," she said. "Everybody fell to the right. Not down to the floor, but on seats. Video: Passengers try to escape after an explosion on a train in St Petersburg (ABC News). "When we were climbing out the train carriage collapsed, all of it. Everything went black, it started to fall apart and while we were approaching [the station]. "I just thought oh God, please let us reach the station. And then when I looked back there were huge number of people lying on the floor.". As she emerged from the carriage, Ms Kirillova saw bodies. "It was scary. And when we left they took out several people covered in blood," she said. "[There was] a woman, her whole face and nose — all of it was a large massive wound.". Victims were 'blackened', had their clothes burned. Anna Sventik, a St Petersburg resident, was traveling on a metro train that passed through the same station moments after the blast. ...

St. Petersburg Subway Bombing Reveals Terror Vulnerability

... Metropolitan Area Transit Administration is receiving periodic updates from federal law enforcement but hasn’t changed the already “elevated” security level. The agency encouraged passengers to report suspicious packages or activity. “At this time, there is no specific or credible threat to Metro, and there has been no announced change in Metro’s security posture, which remains elevated,” spokesman Ron Holzer said. The U. S. Department of Homeland Security and transit agencies in Boston, Chicago, New York didn’t respond to questions about whether security was tightened in the U. S. Poncy expects proposals to reduce the vulnerabilities of subway stations. Metal detectors are now common at airports and sporting events, and the inconvenience of hindering subway riders might be overcome by security concerns, he said. “It’s an intricately woven target that permeates every part of a London or a New York, or any of the cities with a large subway system,” Poncy said. “If you want to make an impact, you set it to go off when ...

St Petersburg Blast And Gibraltar Row

... part it will play in the Brexit negotiations. The newspaper says Theresa May and Boris Johnson are making moves to calm the situation, dismissing notions of military action and hinting that a "conciliatory approach" could be matched with "British goodwill" over security issues. Image caption The Sun has a different take on the Gibraltar issue, launching its own campaign with the headline "Up Yours Senors!". The newspaper calls for Spain and the EU to "take their hands off Our Rock" and says it has the backing of Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, as well as local people. Image caption The Times shows the prime minister arriving in Amman at the start of her tour of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The paper's lead, however, is on the "unethical behaviour" of foreign aid contractors employed by the government. The newspaper quotes a report from MPs claiming profiteering, overcharging and duplicity is rife within businesses that receive millions in taxpayers' money to carry out aid projects overseas. Image caption Labour is preparing itself for a "new low", according to the front page of the i. The newspaper claims the ...