Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed revenge on Tuesday for a suicide bombing that killed at least 35 people at Russia's busiest airport and underscored the Kremlin's failure to stem a rising tide of attacks. Talking tough a day after the bombing, Russia's leaders ordered security services to root out the culprits behind the attack, which bore hallmarks of militants fighting for an Islamic state along Russia's southern flank.
"This was an abominable crime in both its senselessness and its cruelty," Putin told a meeting of ministers in Moscow. "I do not doubt that this crime will be solved and that retribution is inevitable." President Dmitry Medvedev criticised law enforcement agencies and airport managers over the attack at Domodedovo, a major international gateway to Russia. At least eight foreigners were killed in the attack.
"Everything must be done to find, expose and bring the bandits who committed this crime to court - and the nests of these bandits, however deep they have dug in, must be liquidated," he said. "We must not stand on ceremony with those who resist ... they must be destroyed on the spot," Medvedev told leaders of the Federal Security Service (FSB), which is tasked with co-ordinating Russia's fight against terrorism.