The lone liberal challenger to President Vladimir Putin in March 14 elections said on Friday that a Moscow metro blast that killed at least 30 people was aimed at undermining the Russian leader’s credibility and highlighting his failure to ease tensions in separatist Chechnya.
Irina Khakamada told Moscow Echo radio that the rush-hour blast ”was directed against Putin” and a Kremlin administration that has declared the Chechen war over and won despite continuing bloodshed in the Caucasus republic and unending reports of rights abuses.
Khakamada has based her long-shot campaign on criticism of the Putin-led four-year offensive in Chechnya, whose suicide bombers have staged a series of strikes against civilian targets in Moscow and other cities in recent months, rattling civilians’ confidence.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast, but Putin denounced ”terrorism” during a Friday morning appearance in the Kremlin, without directly mentioning the blast.
”If we unite … our efforts in the Caucasus as a whole and also our international efforts, we will be successful in this fight,” Putin said.
Khakamada said the explosion ”demonstrates a direct link to the situation in Chechnya: the peace process which is under way is not guaranteeing people’s security.
”We see once again that even though the security services are calling the fight against terrorism their number one goal, their work in ineffective. The authorities carry responsibility for this.” — Sapa-AFP