Security Tightened, Two Suspects Detained After Blast in Moscow

Moscow's situation remains tense Wednesday after a powerful blast here, police have stepped up security measures and confirmed two suspects involving in the bombing had been detained.

The police have increased security measures in the capital. Vigilantes have appeared in some Moscow yards and near entrances of apartment buildings.

Telephone calls reporting suspected packages of explosive have increased rapidly, said the city police department, assuring that all the reports have turned out to be false alarms.

Some 1,600 policemen have been tasked with ensuring passenger

security in the Moscow subway system. Dog handlers with bomb-sniffing dogs are also working along the subway, checking for explosive devices.

The the security around the Kremlin, the buildings of both houses of parliament, the government residence and the buildings in which state agencies are headquartered and their adjacent territories, has been beefed up.

Russian special services have detained two men suspected of organizing the Tuesday evening bombing: one Chechen and another person from the Caucasian republic of Dagestan, said Vladimir Pronichev, head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) operating headquarters in charge of investigating the case.

Russian presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District Viktor Kazantsev Wednesday described the bombing as "a ruthless and brazen bandit challenge," urging law enforcement agencies to "respond to this challenge quickly and professionally, not only in Moscow but elsewhere in Russia."

Seven people were killed in Tuesday's blast, including five women and two men. Two young women killed in the blast have been identified: Olga Udalova, 18 years old, and Anna Fyodorova, 20, the Moscow civil defense and emergency situations authorities announced Wednesday.

Documents of 38 year-old Alexander Kolbin were found near the body of one of the victims. But experts are not sure whether they belonged to that victim.





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