MOSCOW
— Russian officials say they believe a female suicide bomber caused an explosion that killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens Sunday at the entrance to a train station in Volgograd. The latest attack in southern Russia occurred about 650 kilometers northeast of Sochi, which will host the Winter Olympics in February.
Russia’s federal investigative committee says the bomber walked into a busy train station in Volgograd and detonated explosives just in front of metal detectors.
Vladimir Markin, who heads Russia's Investigative Committee, said that this explosion was the equivalent of 10 kilograms of TNT.
He said there would have been many more victims if the so-called guarding system at the train station hadn't worked. He pointed out that security did not allow the suicide bomber to get through the metal detector into the waiting hall where at the time there were lots of people because three trains were late.
Volgograd, Russia
This is the second recent deadly bombing in the city of around one million. In October, a female suicide bomber blew herself up at a bus stop, killing six others.
Volgograd is around 650 kilometers northeast of Sochi, the site for the upcoming Winter Olympics, a pet project of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an online video, Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov has called on rebels to use maximum force to prevent Mr. Putin from staging the Olympics. Putin has maintained that the games will be safe and that the Kremlin has taken every necessary precaution.
Sochi is situated near the volatile North Caucasus region, on Russia’s southern flank. The region has seen violence for more than a decade as rebels try to establish an Islamist state. There are near-daily attacks on police and officials in the region. Critics blame the violence there on the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent.
Sunday's train-station attack is believed to be the deadliest in three years. In 2011, 37 people were killed when Islamist insurgents bombed a Moscow airport.
On Friday, three people died in another attack some 270 kilometers east of Volgograd, in the city of Pyatigorsk.
Source : http://www.voanews.com/content/female-suicide-bomber-kills-14-in-russian-train-station/1819463.html 29 Dec 2013
KUALA LUMPUR - Sungguhpun jumlah pelancong Rusia di Malaysia semakin meningkat, masih ada ruang untuk terus mempromosi Malaysia di Rusia, kata Duta Rusia Lyudmila G. Vorobyeva. "Saya benar-benar ingin melihat mungkin lebih banyak maklumat tentang Malaysia di Rusia dipromosi oleh lembaga anda (Tourism Malaysia) sebab Malaysia sebuah negara yang sangat menarik dan saya tahu semua warga Rusia yang pernah datang ke sini berpuas hati dengan kunjungan mereka ke Malaysia," katanya kepada Bernama di sini baru-baru ini. Sebagai contoh, beliau berkata ramai pelancong Rusia hanya pernah mendengar tentang Langkawi sedangkan terdapat masih banyak destinasi pelancongan lain di Malaysia. Beliau menarik perhatian ramai pelancong Rusia ingin datang lagi ke Malaysia, tetapi "malangnya, apabila mereka mendengar tentang Malaysia, mereka hanya teringatkan Langkawi."
Duta ke Malaysia itu berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas tentang Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2014. Kementerian Pelancongan dan Kebudayaan Malaysia menyasarkan kedatangan 28 juta pelancong antarabangsa tahun depan sepanjang program itu berlangsung. "Langkawi sangat terkenal di Rusia sedangkan Malaysia mempunyai banyak lagi tempat untuk ditawarkan. Namun begitu, pelancong Rusia kini mula meneroka tempat lain ini. Sebagai contoh, ramai daripada mereka kini sudah mula ke Sabah," kata Vorobyeva. Beliau berkata pelancongan mempunyai masa depan yang cerah bagi kerjasama dua hala dan oleh itu, adalah penting untuk tidak hanya menyasarkan Moscow dan Saint Petersburg tetapi juga bahagian Asia di Rusia (Siberia) dan Pacific Coast. Duta itu berkata bagi tahun ini, jumlah pelancong Rusia ke Malaysia dijangka meningkat sekali ganda kepada 80,000 orang, berbanding 44,765 pelancong tahun lepas.
"Kami menjangkakan jumlah ini akan berkembang memandangkan Asia Tenggara secara keseluruhannya kini muncul sebagai satu daripada destinasi pelancongan utama bagi warga Rusia," kata Vorobyeva, dan menambah pada tahun lepas satu juta pelancong Rusia melawat Thailand, 200,000 Indonesia dan 100,000 Vietnam.
Statistik :
- Malaysia sasar 28 juta pelancong antarabangsa 2014
- Pelancong Rusia ke Malaysia dijangka 80,000 orang untuk 2014
- 1 Juta pelancong Rusia melawat Thailand
- 200,000 pelancong Rusia melawat Indonesia
- 100,000 pelancong Rusia melawat Vietnam
Vorobyeva berkata Asia Tenggara turut memperlihatkan gabungan yang sangat baik merangkumi kebudayaan menarik dengan penduduk yang ramah dan mesra. Rantau ini turut dianugerahi keindahan alam semula jadi selain pantai dan laut yang hangat yang sangat diminati pelancong Rusia apabila mereka ingin lari daripada kedinginan musim sejuk di Rusia. - Bernama
Sumber : Olah dari Sinar Harian, 25 Disember 2013.
