Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has called a bomb attack in a St Petersburg supermarket an act of terrorism and ordered security forces to crack down on terror suspects.
Mr Putin, who has cultivated a strongman image of being tough on security threats throughout his 18-year leadership, called for security forces “not to take any prisoners, to liquidate bandits on the spot”.
Mr Putin, who is standing for a fourth term in office in March, made the remarks at an event on Thursday to celebrate Russian forces who had fought in Syria, a military intervention that Moscow has portrayed as an anti-terror campaign that helped eliminate threats to Russia and other countries.